The  Author. 


BY 

CLARA  COWING 


£ 


THE  ALCOTTS 

As  I  Knew  Them 


Author  of 
POEMS 

CHEST,  OR  RANSACKING" 


THE  C.  M.  CLARK  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

BOSTON  MDCCCCIX 


Copyright,    1909 

THE  C.  M.  CLARK   PUBLISHING  CO 

BOSTON,   MASSACHUSETTS 
U     S.   A. 

All  Right*  Reserved 


P5 


Irtrtratrb 

TO   MT   OLD   SCHOOLMATE 

MRS.  S.  H.  LUNT 

AND   HER   DAUGHTER 

MISS  E.  H.  LUNT 


M65G348 


CONTENTS 


PREFACE  BY  THE  AUTHOR      .... 
INTRODUCTION  BY  F.  B.  SANBORN   .     . 

LOUISA  MAY  ALCOTT 

MR.  ALCOTT 

MRS.  ALCOTT 

ANNA 107 

MAY  122 


PAGE 

i 
ii 

1 

31 
80 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Author Frontispiece 

PAGE 

LOUISA  .  .  .  TOOK  ME  FOR  A  SHORT  DRIVE    .         9 
SHE    BOUNDED    DOWN   THE    PATH        ....      18 

THE   BOYS   CHEERED   THE   FLAG    AND 

THE   MAKER  .      67 


PREFACE 

HAVING  met  from  time  to  time,  during 
the  past  years,  many  of  Louisa  Alcott's 
admirers  who  were  interested  in  anything 
that  concerned  her  or  her  family,  I  con 
ceived  the  idea  of  glancing  backward 
threescore  years  and  giving  to  the  public 
not  only  some  incidents  of  her  girlhood, 
but  also  a  little  sketch  of  other  members 
of  the  family. 

In  writing  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alcott  I 
have  been  indebted  to  the  kindness  of 
Mr.  F.  B.  Sanborn  for  facts  in  their  early 
life.  He  generously  gave  me  permission 
to  "quote  all  you  wish,  only  give  credit 
to  the  ' Memoir  of  Bronson  Alcott/"  and 
this  I  have  done. 

The  writing  of  this  little  book  has  been 
to  me  a  labor  of  love,  recalling  as  it  has 
so  many  happy  days  spent  with  my 
friends  "The  Alcotts."  That  it  may 
give  the  readers  pleasure  is  the  wish  of 
The  Author, 

CLARA  COWING. 


INTRODUCTION 

ALTHOUGH  Louisa  Alcott  was  of  nearly 
the  same  age  with  me  (not  quite  a  year 
younger),  I  did  not  see  her  until  I  was 
in  college,  and  she  a  young  woman  of 
nearly  twenty.  For  her  earlier  life,  then, 
I  have  had  to  depend  on  her  own  state 
ments  and  those  of  her  family,  besides 
the  facts  recorded  by  my  friend,  Mrs. 
Cheney  (who  introduced  me  to  the  family 
in  1852),  in  her  authorized  biography  of 
Miss  Alcott.  It  always  seemed  to  me 
that  Mrs.  Cheney  dwelt  rather  too  much 
on  the  somber  side  of  Louisa's  life;  and 
it  is  also  true  that  Louisa  herself,  in  her 
later  years  of  invalidism,  viewed  some 
what  too  regretfully  the  burdens  and 
misfortunes  of  the  family,  whose  romantic 
experiences  furnished  many  of  the  inci 
dents  of  her  lively  and  pathetic  tales, 
ii 


INTRODUCTION 

I  therefore  welcome  any  facts  or  writ 
ings  that  present  this  woman  of  warm 
fancy  and  generous  heart  as  she  was  in 
her  happy   childhood;    for  neither  her 
childhood  nor  her  youth  could  be  very 
unhappy,    with    her    cheerful,    practical 
and  social  temper,  touched,  as  it  surely 
was,  with  an  occasional  tinge  of  melan 
choly,  growing  out  of  the  accidents  of 
life,  or  the  development  of  a  rich  nature. 
Such  are  the  artless  recollections  of  Miss 
Gowing,  a  Concord  playmate  of  Louisa's 
after  the  family  returned  from  the  Fruit- 
lands   experiment   to   the   rural   life   of 
Concord.     These   were    the   years   from 
1845  onward,  when  the  exuberance  of 
her  spirits  got  the  better  of  whatever 
was  depressing  in  the  family  fortunes. 
The   four   sisters   were   all   together,   in 
good  health,  of  ages  ranging  from  five 
to  fourteen  in  1845,  and  with  such  varie 
ties  of  talent  and  character  as  adapted 
them  to  form  a  happy  quartette  and  to 
draw  about  them  a  variety  of  character 
iii 


INTRODUCTION 

in  their  childish  associates.  Although 
misunderstood  and  unappreciated  by  the 
general  society  of  the  small  village,  the 
family  had  warm  and  admiring  friends 
in  the  Emersons,  the  Thoreaus,  Chan- 
nings  and  Hawthornes,  of  literary  fame, 
and  the  children  mingled  on  equal  terms 
with  those  of  other  families  to  whom 
the  opinions  and  habits  of  the  Alcotts 
were  puzzles. 

Fortunately,  children  do  not  much 
care  for  the  standards  by  which  their 
elders  judge  of  their  own  contemporaries. 
They  have  standards  of  their  own,  and 
their  intimacies  are  likely  to  conform  to 
those,  whatever  may  be  the  verdict  of 
others.  Clara  Cowing,  therefore,  with 
little  interest  in  the  problems  which  the 
learned  seniors  were  trying  to  work  out, 
found  herself  much  interested  in  Louisa 
Alcott  and  her  sisters,  and  in  these 
pages  she  records  what  then  concerned 
these  playmates.  How  much  she  saw, 
or  would  have  understood  had  she  seen, 
iv 


INTRODUCTION 

of  the  public  and  social  experiments 
going  on  in  the  Transcendental  Period, 
then  in  its  bloom,  I  cannot  say.  But 
this  side  of  Concord  life  has  been  fully 
treated  by  others,  and  she  only  under 
takes  the  simpler  task  of  reporting  what 
went  on  from  day  to  day  in  the  children's 
world — often  as  little  understood,  even 
by  aunts  and  cousins,  as  the  child  com 
prehends  what  is  passing  in  the  elder 
world,  so  near  and  yet  so  far  away.  I 
consider  this  proper  to  be  done,  because 
the  interest  of  successive  cycles  of  girls 
in  the  Alcott  view  of  life,  as  presented  by 
Louisa,  requires  that  all  the  incidents, 
typical  or  trivial,  which  made  Louisa 
what  she  has  been  to  them,  should  be 
simply  narrated,  as  is  done  in  these  pages, 
so  far  as  they  have  come  under  my  notice. 

F.  B.  SANBORN. 
CONCORD,  MASS. 


The  Alcotts  as  I  Knew  Them 


LOUISA  MAY  ALCOTT 

IN  the  spring  of  1845  the  usually 
tranquil  neighborhood  in  Concord,  Massa 
chusetts,  known  as  the  "East  Quarter," 
was  somewhat  agitated  by  learning  that 
Mr.  A.  Bronson  Alcott  had  purchased  a 
place  in  that  part  of  the  town,  which  he 
would  occupy  with  his  family. 

Previous  to  this  he  had  been  a  citizen 
of  the  town  long  enough  to  acquire  the 
reputation  of  being  a  fanatic  in  belief 
and  habit,  and  he  had  recently  come 
from  a  community  of  Transcendentalists 
in  Harvard,  Massachusetts.  (What  the 
term  Transcendentalist  really  meant  was 
not  generally  understood,  but  it  was  sup 
posed  to  be  something  entirely  unortho 
dox.)  He  attended  no  church,  had  been 
1 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

arrested  for  not  paying  his  taxes  because 
he  would  not  support  a  government  so 
false  to  the  law  of  love  as  that  which  was 
advocated  in  the  Boston  papers,  es 
chewed  all  animal  food,  and  had  attempt 
ed  to  do  without  everything  the  use  of 
which  cost  the  life  of  the  creature,  such 
as  leather  for  boots  and  shoes,  and  oil 
for  burning;  and  he  carried  his  anti- 
slavery  principles  so  far  as  to  give  up 
sugar  and  molasses  made  at  the  South, 
also  cotton,  or  anything  produced  by 
slave  labor.  In  a  family  of  restricted 
means  it  was  found  rather  impracticable 
to  carry  out  all  these  ideas,  and  when 
they  came  to  the  "East  Quarter"  they 
used  oil  for  light,  cotton  goods  and  sugar, 
and  yielding  to  the  wife's  and  children's 
requirement,  milk. 

The  place  he  purchased,  about  a  mile 
from  the  village,  consisted  of  several 
acres  of  land  and  a  two -story  house 
standing  quite  near  the  main  road,  with 
the  front  door  in  the  middle,  on  which 
2 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

was  an  old-fashioned  knocker.  A  wheel 
wright's  shop  was  on  one  side  of  the 
house,  and  a  barn  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  road,  with  a  high  hill  covered  with 
trees  for  a  background.  Over  this  hill 
a  part  of  the  British  troops  marched 
when  they  entered  and  left  Concord  on 
the  memorable  19th  of  April,  1775,  the 
hill  being  on  the  north  side  of  the  road 
from  Lexington  to  Concord  and  extend 
ing  for  a  mile,  ending  just  beyond  the 
old  church. 

To  use  Mrs.  Alcott's  own  words,  "we 
moved  the  barn  across  the  road,  cut  the 
shop  in  two  and  put  a  half  on  each  end 
of  the  house. "  On  each  L  so  formed 
was  a  piazza  with  a  door  opening  into 
the  front  room  as  well  as  one  into  the  L. 
There  were  r.o  less  than  eight  outside 
doors  to  the  house.  Mrs.  Alcott  used 
to  say,  when  a  rap  was  heard,  each  one 
started  for  one  of  the  doors.  In  the  west 
L  each  of  the  two  older  girls,  Anna  and 
Louisa,  had  a  little  room  for  a  studio 
3 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

all  her  own,  in  which  she  reigned  su 
preme.  Louisa  loved  to  be  alone  when 
reading  or  writing,  and  a  door  from  her 
room  opening  toward  the  hill  gave  her 
opportunity  to  slip  out  into  the  woods 
at  her  pleasure. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  their 
land  extended  to  a  brook  where  Mr. 
Alcott  built  a  rustic  bathhouse  with  a 
thatched  roof,  which  they  used  daily 
in  warm  weather;  the  girls  scampering 
across  the  road  and  field,  plunging  into 
the  brook  and  back  again  as  quickly  as 
possible.  In  winter  time  a  shower  bath 
in  the  house  was  used  instead,  for  bath 
ing  and  outdoor  exercise  were  important 
elements  to  the  Alcotts.  On  the  hill 
back  of  the  buildings  Mr.  Alcott  made  a 
rustic  summer  house  and  laid  out  walks 
and  terraces.  With  a  high  picket  fence 
and  shrubbery  in  front,  the  lower  rooms 
were  quite  screened  from  the  passers-by, 
and  this  gave  a  feeling  of  retirement 
which  was  congenial  to  them. 
4 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

The  family  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Alcott  and  four  daughters — Anna  Bron- 
son,  Louisa  May,  Elizabeth  Sewell  and 
Abby  May.  On  account  of  the  peculiar 
views  held  by  Mr.  Alcott,  in  many  of 
which  his  wife  felt  no  sympathy,  the 
neighbors  were  not  forward  in  calling, 
and  though  all  summer  and  fall  I  passed 
the  house  in  going  to  the  village  to  school, 
my  acquaintance  with  the  girls  did  not 
progress  much  beyond  our  peeping  at 
each  other  through  the  fence,  and  a 
mutual  desire  for  companionship,  each 
hesitating  to  make  the  advance.  But 
the  next  winter,  1845-46,  by  dint  of 
much  teasing,  Anna  and  Louisa  per 
suaded  their  mother  to  allow  them  to 
attend  the  district  public  school,  some 
thing  they  had  never  done  before.  As 
the  teacher  was  a  young  man,  John 
Hosmer,  who  had  recently  come  from 
the  Brook  Farm  Community  School  and 
was  in  some  degree  in  sympathy  with 
the  Alcotts,  their  desire  was  more  readily 
5 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

granted   than  it  would   otherwise  have 
been. 

Louisa  was  thirteen  years  old,  tall  and 
slim;  in  fact,  limbs  predominated  and 
were  used  freely,  so  that  she  was  the 
fleetest  runner  in  school,  and  could  walk, 
run  and  climb  like  a  boy.  At  one  time 
she  trundled  her  hoop  from  her  home  to 
the  foot  of  Hardy's  Hill,  the  distance  of 
a  mile,  turned  and  came  back  without 
stopping.  She  had  dark  brown  hair, 
pleasant  gray  eyes  with  a  peculiar  twinkle 
in  them,  and  a  sallow  complexion.  She 
was  not  prepossessing  in  personal  appear 
ance,  and  in  character  a  strange  combina 
tion  of  kindness  and  perseverance,  shyness 
and  daring;  a  creature  loving  and  spite 
ful,  full  of  energy  and  perseverance,  full 
of  fun,  with  a  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous, 
apt  speech  and  ready  wit;  a  subject  of 
moods,  than  whom  no  one  could  be  jollier 
and  more  entertaining  when  geniality  was 
in  ascendency,  but  if  the  opposite,  let  her 
best  friend  beware. 
6 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

That  she  was  not  a  boy  was  one  of  her 
great  afflictions;  her  impulsive  disposi 
tion  was  fretted  by  the  restraint  and 
restrictions  which  were  deemed  essential 
to  the  proper  girl.  Most  of  her  books 
have  some  one  character  in  which  her 
own  traits  are  more  or  less  conspicuous. 
In  "Hospital  Sketches "  and  " Little 
Women"  they  are  very  prominent;  the 
latter,  in  fact,  as  is  well  known,  is  a 
family  book,  the  traits  of  character, 
except  those  of  Mr.  Alcott,  being  true 
to  life,  and  many,  though  not  all  of  the 
incidents.  The  opening  chapter  of  "  Hos 
pital  Sketches"  is  a  good  sample  of 
family  conversation,  and  as  the  following 
chapters  were  letters  written  home,  they 
are  really  part  and  parcel  of  herself,  and 
through  them  one  sees  Louisa  in  maturity 
in  her  true  self,  impulsive,  warm-hearted, 
self-reliant,  earnest  to  do  good,  self- 
sacrificing,  gentle  and  tender  to  the 
suffering,  indignant  at  wrong,  cheerful 
under  difficulties,  sympathetic  and  grate- 
7 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

ful  for  kindness,  with  a  quick  sense  of 
the  comical  under  all  circumstances. 

In  regard  to  the  studies  of  the  sisters 
that  winter  (for  one  sister  cannot  be  con 
sidered  without  the  other,  so  closely 
united  were  the  two)  I  have  only  faint 
recollection,  but  I  am  inclined  to  think 
they  did  not  join  classes  in  general. 
Mr.  Alcott  did  not  believe  in  the  use  of 
text-books  and  the  usual  method  of  im 
parting  knowledge,  and  he  had  taught 
them  at  home  by  his  own  method,  that 
of  conversation.  Grammar  they  never 
studied  from  books.  Of  the  jolly  good 
times  during  that  winter,  both  at  school 
and  at  their  home,  and  in  the  years  that 
followed,  I  have  most  pleasant  remem 
brance.  It  was  a  new  life  to  the  sisters, 
who  for  the  first  time  associated  with 
those  of  their  own  age  in  a  promiscuous 
school,  and  the  friendship  then  formed 
between  Anna  and  myself,  though  inter 
rupted  by  seasons  of  separation,  was 
never  broken. 

8 


Louisa.  .  .  .took  me  for  a  short  drive. 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Louisa,  though  younger  than  Anna, 
was  the  controlling  spirit,  and  often 
shocked  her  sensitive  sister  by  some 
daring  speech  or  deed.  Thus,  one  morn 
ing  on  their  way  to  school,  seeing  the 
horse  and  sleigh  of  a  neighbor  at  a  house 
they  were  passing,  Louisa,  much  to  the 
chagrin  of  her  sister,  took  possession  of 
it  and,  coming  along  as  I  was  starting 
for  school,  took  me  for  a  short  drive, 
then  returned  the  team  to  the  place 
where  she  found  it.  Years  after,  when 
the  white  mingled  with  the  brown  on 
our  heads,  reference  was  made,  in  our 
reminiscences,  to  this  schoolgirl  episode; 
she  laughing,  said,  "  and  Bart  kissed  me 
when  I  got  out."  (Promiscuous  kissing 
was  under  a  ban  in  their  family.) 

The  three  months  of  school  being  over, 
we  could  not  of  course  be  together  every 
day,  and  the  plan  of  having  a  postoffice 
was  originated;  so  on  the  hillside  about 
midway  between  our  homes,  a  hollow 
stump  was  cleared  out  and  a  box  duly 
9 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

installed  to  receive  our  missives,  and 
much  sentiment  and  much  fun  passed 
through  this  repository.  It  was  visited 
daily  or  ofterer,  and  cruelly  abused  did 
we  feel  if  on  going  there  we  did  not  find 
something  for  ourselves.  Each  had  a 
fictitious  signature.  In  looking  over 
these  little  notes,  which  have  been  care 
fully  treasured  for  more  than  half  a  cen 
tury,  I  do  not  find  one  commencing  in 
the  usual  schoolgirl  style  of  that  time, 
"  I  now  take  my  pen  in  hand"  nor  ending 
with  "My  pen  is  poor,  my  ink  is  pale," 
etc.  I  do  not  think  they  ever  used  such 
a  form;  formality  in  all  respects  was 
distasteful  to  them;  but  Louisa  now  and 
then  sent  a  rhyme.  The  following  ac 
companied  a  bouquet: 

"  Clara,  my  dear,  your  birthday  is  here 

Before  I  had  time  to  prepare, 
Yet  take  these  flowers,  fresh  from  Nature's 

bower, 
All  bright  and  fair." 

In  winter  evenings  whist  was  a  favorite 
10 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

diversion,  Mrs.  Alcott  thinking  a  game 
of  cards  much  more  enjoyable  and  less 
harmful  than  the  kissing  games  usually 
resorted  to  among  the  young.  When  a 
little  party  was  invited  for  the  girls,  she 
was  always  present  to  suggest  and  assist 
in  the  games,  selecting  those  in  which 
this  feature  was  not  admissible.  At  one 
time  a  boy  in  some  game  ventured  to  kiss 
Anna,  much  to  the  indignation  of  all,  and 
Louisa  especially  stormed  about  it.  He 
was  ever  after  known  in  the  family  as 
"Mr.  Smack."  They  were  in  the  habit 
among  themselves  of  using  nicknames 
for  some  of  their  mates,  chosen  for  some 
incident  connected  with  the  person ;  thus, 
a  boy  at  school  who  would  one  day  wear 
a  pair  of  mittens,  leave  one  or  both  on  the 
window  seat,  and  come  the  next  day  with 
another  pair,  or  odd  ones,  as  the  case 
might  be,  was  dubbed  "Mr.  Mitten. " 
Louisa  was  very  fond  of  whist  and  was 
the  life  of  the  party,  yet,  if  she  was  deeply 
interested  in  a  book  when  her  presence 
11 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

was  desired,  no  persuasion  could  lure  her 
from  her  den  till  she  chose  to  come,— 
then  all  was  sunshine. 

After  the  winter  at  school,  the  girls 
studied  at  home,  reading  French  and 
German,  and  reciting  to  George  Brad 
ford  or  Henry  Thoreau.  They  spent 
much  time  together  over  their  books, 
one  often  reading  aloud  while  the  others 
sewed,  and  Mrs.  Alcott  was  one  with  her 
daughters,  entering  with  sympathetic 
heartiness  into  all  that  concerned  them, 
and  telling  stories  of  her  family  and  past 
life,  many  of  which  Louisa  wove  into 
her  writings  to  give  them  the  charm  of 
naturalness.  If  there  were  any  school 
girl  secrets,  it  was  only  for  a  time,  to  end 
in  a  happy  surprise. 

They  were  very  fond  of  fairy  tales  in 
those  days,  and  writing  them  was  one  of 
Louisa's  first  attempts  at  composition. 
Their  library  contained  all  Miss  Edge- 
worth's  novels,  Scott's,  Miss  Bremer's 
and  Dickens'  works,  and  other  standard 
12 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

books  of  the  day.  Dickens  was  a  great 
favorite;  they  never  tired  of  his  comic 
scenes  and  characters  from  real  life,  and 
frequent  peals  of  laughter  were  always 
heard  when  "Boz"  was  the  entertainer. 
Having  a  good  memory,  Louisa  stowed 
away  the  funny  parts  for  future  diver 
sion,  recalling  them  at  opportune  times 
for  her  own  amusement  and  that  of 
others. 

Birthdays  were  always  noticed  by  the 
family  as  well  as  all  holidays;  tableaux 
and  plays  were  then  brought  out,  as  they 
were  in  fact  at  any  other  time  when  the 
spirit  moved.  By  enclosing  a  piazza  at 
the  end  of  the  house  with  draperies,  they 
improvised  a  stage  very  easily,  and  in 
their  attic  was  a  quantity  of  ancestral 
finery,  brocaded  silks,  satin  slippers,  old 
laces,  shawls,  wigs,  etc.,  which  did  duty 
on  these  occasions.  Louisa  usually  took 
a  comic  or  tragic  part,  or  that  of  an  old 
woman.  If  memory  failed,  she  never 
hesitated,  but  extemporized  from  her 
13 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

own  brains  and  often  put  the  other  actors 
to  their  wits'  end  by  some  unexpected 
originality.  If  an  impromptu  play  was 
desired,  the  mother  and  sisters  could  do 
their  part  by  just  knowing  the  spirit  of 
the  subject. 

The  Alcotts  lived  and  dressed  plainly 
at  this  time,  ignoring  fashion,  and  thus 
had  much  time  for  outdoor  exercise, 
even  while  doing  their  own  work.  Al 
though  they  lived  a  mile  from  the  village, 
the  distance  was  thought  nothing  of.  I 
have  known  the  girls  to  walk  three  miles 
after  dinner,  make  a  good  social  call, 
and  return  to  supper.  A  walk  of  five  or 
six  miles  was  just  good  exercise  for  them. 
In  later  years  Louisa  walked  from  Boston 
home  one  Sunday,  a  distance  of  twenty 
miles,  having  missed  the  train  Saturday 
night,  and  arrived  in  Concord  about 
1  p.  M.  ;  and  as  there  were  callers  that 
evening,  she  walked  part  way  to  the 
village  with  them,  "for  exercise,"  she 
said. 

14 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Mrs.  Alcott  was  in  the  habit  of  joining 
her  children  and  a  few  of  their  mates  in 
long  walks;  and  days  or  half -days  were 
spent  at  Walden  Pond,  Fairy  Land,  Fair- 
haven  and  other  quiet  resorts  in  the 
woods.  Mr.  Alcott  sometimes  accom 
panied  us  and  mingled  some  of  his  wise 
thoughts  with  our  pleasure.  One  day  at 
Walden  he  wrote  on  the  sand  with  a 
stick,  much  to  our  amusement,  to  show 
how  he  learned  to  write  when  a  boy. 
The  sand  and  his  mother's  kitchen  floor 
were  his  copy-book,  which  he  was  allowed 
to  use  just  before  it  was  to  be  washed. 

A  favorite  resort  with  us  girls  near 
our  homes,  where  we  could  go  with 
safety  by  ourselves,  was  to  a  pool  which 
F.  B.  Sanborn  in  his  "  Reminiscences 
of  Seventy  Years "  calls  "Gowing's 
Swamp" ;  it  was  a  walk  to  which  he  and 
his  group  did  not  invite  everyone,  he 
says,  but  one  day  Channing  took  Haw 
thorne  there;  the  latter  was  not  an  ob 
server  or  lover  of  nature,  and  after  giving 
15 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

a  glance  around  he  desired  to  "get  out 
of  this  dreadful  hole." 

We  girls  approached  the  pool  by  a 
narrow  path  at  the  foot  of  a  wooded  hill 
which  skirted  a  blueberry  swamp  and 
led  out  to  a  knoll,  and  there  jumping 
across  a  narrow  stream,  we  were  at  the 
pool  which  was  bordered  by  flowering 
shrubs  in  their  season,  and  in  the  vicinity 
were  to  be  found  the  pyrola  with  its 
exquisite  waxen  blossom,  foxberry,  or 
eye-bright  whose  dainty  delicate  white 
bloom  changed  to  the  bright  red  berry, 
half  hidden  among  the  leaves,  sweet-fern, 
Solomon's  seal,  checkerberry  leaves,  ferns, 
and  in  fact  all  the  rich  treasures  of  nature 
found  in  the  wild  woods  and  of  which 
we  girls  plucked  abundantly.  We  named 
the  place  Paradise,  and  spent  many 
happy  hours  there. 

At  the  end  of  three  years,  in  1848,  the 

family   moved    to   Boston,    and    Louisa 

taught  a  few  pupils,  had  the  care  of  little 

children  or  sewed,  and  wrote  fairy  tales 

16 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

and  stories  for  papers  and  magazines  as 
she  had  time.  Writing  and  enacting 
dramas  engaged  her  leisure  hours,  for 
she  had  a  natural  taste  for  the  stage. 

In  1857  the  Alcotts  returned  to  Con 
cord  and  purchased,  with  money  left  to 
the  girls  by  a  relative,  the  place  adjoin 
ing  their  old  home,  which  was  then 
owned  and  occupied  by  Nathaniel  Haw 
thorne.  Here  Louisa  soon  found  an 
agreeable  circle  of  young  people  and 
entered  into  their  social  functions  with 
the  energy  and  zeal  which  was  character 
istic  of  her;  in  fact  she  soon  became  a 
leader  in  their  amusements,  masquer 
ades,  tableaux,  charades,  etc.,  which 
were  her  special  delight.  Her  mirth  and 
good  humor  made  her  a  favorite  every 
where. 

An  amateur  artist  of  Woburn  (C.  W. 
Reed),  accepted  an  invitation  from  a 
friend  to  attend  a  masquerade  in  Concord 
and  there  met  Louisa  Alcott;  again  he 
met  her  at  a  small  social  party  where 
17 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

the  entertainment  was  chatting,  telling 
stories  and  music.  During  the  evening 
Louisa  asked  him  to  sketch  their  house 
at  "The  Orchard,"  or  as  she  sometimes 
called  it,  "Apple  Slump."  Accordingly 
next  morning  he  took  his  stand  in  the 
field  across  the  road  opposite  the  house 
and  with  sketch  book  and  pencil  began 
his  work.  Louisa,  her  sister,  May,  and 
their  friend,  Miss  Barrett,  were  sitting 
on  the  porch  under  Louisa's  den  at  the 
end  of  the  house.  When  Louisa  spied 
him,  she  bounded  down  the  path  across 
the  road  and  at  a  hand  vault  cleared  the 
bars  of  the  gateway  and  entered  the 
field  where  he  stood  and  asked  if  he 
minded  her  looking  on  while  he  drew. 
"Certainly  not,"  replied  Reed.  Pres 
ently  she  asked  where  his  line  of  sight 
was,  his  point  of  sight,  his  vanishing 
points,  etc.  All  of  which  Reed  knew 
nothing  about  and  so  informed  her. 
"Then  how  do  you  draw  your  lines?" 
she  inquired.  He  replied,  "I  make  my 
18 


She  bounded  down  the  path. 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

lines  where  I  see  they  are."  Whereupon 
she  called  to  the  girls,  "  Oh,  goody,  come 
quick  and  see  an  artist  who  doesn't 
bother  about  making  points  of  sight,  lines 
of  sight,  or  vanishing  points."  So  the 
two  girls  ran  across  the  road,  jumped 
the  fence  in  the  same  way  Reed  had  done 
when  he  entered  the  field,  and  Louisa, 
also,  and  all  three  watched  the  sketching. 
When  finished,  Louisa  said  she  would 
like  her  father  to  meet  Reed  and  see  the 
picture,  so  they  all  went  to  the  house. 
After  Mr.  Reed  had  been  presented  to 
Mr.  Alcott  and  the  latter  had  examined 
the  sketch,  he  placed  his  hand  on  the 
artist's  head  and  said,  "Young  man,  you 
are  a  child  of  light,  a  child  of  God." 
Reed  replied  he  thought  he  did  not  quite 
understand  what  Mr.  Alcott  meant  by 
that.  Mr.  Alcott  took  him  around  the 
house,  and,  pointing  to  some  bright 
flowers,  said,  "These  are  God-like;  they 
represent  all  that  is  good,  but  the  night 
shade,  belladonna  and  others  of  like 
19 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

nature  are  of  darkness,  of  evil."  Reed, 
being  but  a  youth,  was  about  to  express 
his  lack  of  conception  of  the  idea,  when 
Louisa  gave  him  a  poke  with  her  toe  as 
a  hint  for  him  to  keep  silent  and  let  her 
father  ramble  on  in  his  own  deep  far 
away  manner,  which  he  did  for  a  time 
while  the  young  people  listened  with  due 
respect,  then  Mr.  Alcott  retired  to  his 
study  and  the  young  people  chatted 
after  their  own  manner.  Louisa  drew  a 
hand  in  the  artist's  sketch  book  on  the 
page  opposite  the  house ;  it  represented  a 
hand,  with  all  but  the  index  finger  closed, 
and  showed  that  the  pencil  was  not  her 
forte.  Then  she  wanted  Reed  to  draw 
one.  He  took  the  book  and  said,  "Hold 
out  your  hand,  please."  "Oh,  is  that 
the  way  you  do  it?"  she  said.  The  old 
sketch  book  of  more  than  fifty  years  ago 
now  bears  evidence  of  this  little  episode 
in  Louisa's  girlhood. 

When  the  war  broke  out,  Louisa  was 
among  the  first  to  go  to  Washington  as 
20 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

nurse  in  1862.  Her  letters  written  home 
during  her  stay  of  about  two  months 
there  were  published  in  the  Boston  Com 
monwealth  and  copied  by  other  papers  all 
over  the  North.  On  her  recovery  from 
the  fever  which  had  made  her  stay  in 
Washington  so  brief,  these  letters,  which 
had  been  revised,  were  published  in  book 
form  with  one  or  two  chapters  added, 
under  the  title  of  "  Hospital  Sketches." 
As  every  one  at  that  time  was  deeply  in 
terested  in  anything  that  pertained  to 
the  soldiers,  the  book  made  a  stir  and 
sold  rapidly. 

Thus  encouraged,  she  took  to  her  pen 
again,  writing  stories  for  papers  and 
magazines,  and  after  a  while  ventured  to 
have  "Moods"  published.  In  her  "Life, 
Letters  and  Journals,"  edited  by  Mrs. 
Ednah  D.  Cheney,  is  a  graphic  description 
of  her  trials  and  discouragements  in 
getting  this,  her  first  novel,  before  the 
public.  It  was  severely  criticised  by 
some  on  account  of  its  views  of  marriage, 
21 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

yet  when  republished  after  fame  had 
been  acquired  from  "  Little  Women/' 
the  same  persons  said  "  it  was  not  so  bad, 
after  all.77 

In  1865  she  accompanied  an  invalid 
lady  to  Europe,  and  during  her  travels 
she  met  a  Polish  youth  from  whom  she 
conceived  the  character  of  Laurie  in 
"Little  Women."  More  than  one  young 
man  on  this  side  of  the  water  has  claimed 
the  distinction,  but  the  Pole  in  Vevey 
was  the  real  original.  Two  years  later, 
in  1867,  "Little  Women"  was  written. 
Its  lifelike  incidents  made  it  very  attrac 
tive  to  both  young  and  old ;  the  children 
were  wild  over  it,  and  like  Oliver  Twist, 
"asked  for  more."  The  financial  success 
of  the  book  made  the  family  independent, 
and  "An  Old-Fashioned  Girl"  followed. 

Another  trip  was  taken  to  Europe,  the 
incidents  of  which  are  given  in  "Shawl 
Straps"  in  her  own  amusing  style;  but, 
on  account  of  nerves  shattered  by  over 
work,  she  did  not  find  the  enjoyment  or 
22 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

improvement  she  had  expected.  One 
reason  may  have  been  that  she  continued 
to  use  the  pen,  for  while  she  was  in  Rome 
news  was  received  of  the  death  of  her 
sister  Anna's  husband,  and  she  imme 
diately  wrote  "Little  Men,"  the  pro 
ceeds  of  which  were  devoted  to  the 
education  of  the  two  little  boys  left 
fatherless. 

At  one  time  Scribner  wanted  her  to 
write  a  serial  for  his  magazine,  and  she 
declined  on  account  of  her  mother,  who 
was  not  well,  while  her  own  health  was 
also  not  good.  He  asked  her  to  set  her 
price;  she  replied  "three  thousand  dol 
lars,"  thinking  he  would  not  give  it,  but 
he  told  her  to  go  on,  and  "Under  the 
Lilacs"  was  produced.  Other  books  of 
hers  are  "Work,"  "Eight  Cousins," 
"Rose  in  Bloom,"  "Jack  and  Jill,"  "A 
Garland  for  Girls,"  "My  Boys,"  "Trans 
cendental  Wild  Oats,"  "A  Modern  Me- 
phistopheles,"  etc.,  etc.  One  of  her  last 
books  was  "Lu  Lu's  Library,"  a  series  of 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

short  stories  written  for  her  little  niece, 
the  daughter  of  her  artist  sister. 

In  the  autumn  of  1877  Mrs.  Alcott, 
after  much  suffering,  passed  away. 
Louisa  had  been  able  to  be  with  her 
during  most  of  her  sickness  and  wrote 
while  caring  for  her.  Her  death  was  a 
severe  blow  to  Louisa,  as  the  tie  between 
them  was  most  tender  and  sweet.  Their 
dispositions  were  much  alike.  Her  sister 
May,  who  was  in  Paris  at  this  time,  was 
married  the  next  spring,  and  the  acquisi 
tion  of  a  brother,  together  with  May's 
happiness,  served  to  distract  attention 
from  her  grief,  but  the  memory  of  her 
dear  mother  was  held  sacred  through  life. 

She  looked  forward  to  a  visit  to  May, 
in  the  near  future,  her  health  not  per 
mitting  it  then,  but  two  years  later  the 
dear  petted  sister  May  followed  the 
mother.  Anna  writes  of  Louisa  at  that 
time:  "I  have  never  seen  her  brave 
heart  so  broken;  so  many  hopes  are 
shattered,  and  so  Tmuch  to  which  she  has 
24 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

looked  forward  so  long  has  now  vanished 
forever."  Her  little  namesake,  the  child 
of  May,  became  Louisa's,  the  last  bequest 
of  the  mother.  Of  her  coming  to  them, 
Anna  wrote,  "a  healthy,  happy  little 
soul,  she  comes  like  sunshine  to  our  sad 
hearts,  and  takes  us  all  captive  by  her 
winning  ways  and  lovely  traits." 

To  this  child  Louisa  devoted  her  time 
and  love  until,  broken  in  health,  she  was 
obliged  to  leave  her  home  and  cares  for 
a  quiet  place  to  rest  and  recuperate. 
But  she  had  ventured  too  much  in  writing 
so  incessantly  in  the  past.  Her  nervous 
system  never  rallied  from  the  strain  and 
for  several  years  she  was  an  invalid. 
Though  not  able  to  write,  her  brain  still 
thought  stories  for  the  children. 

The  last  fifteen  months  of  her  life  she 
made  her  home  with  Dr.  Lawrence  of 
Roxbury,  who  attended  her  wherever 
she  went  for  a  change.  A  day  or  two 
before  her  father  passed  away,  she  drove 
to  Boston  to  see  him,  and  as  she  stood 
25 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

by  his  bedside,  just  before  leaving,  she 
said,  "As  you  lie  here,  father,  what  do 
you  think  about ?"  Pointing  his  finger 
upward,  he  said,  "I  think  of  the  loved 
ones  up  there,  and  I  am  going  to  them 
soon."  Louisa  replied,  "I  wish  I  was 
going,  too."  And  her  wish  was  gratified; 
the  next  day  she  was  taken  very  ill  with 
meningitis  and  on  the  6th  of  March, 
1888,  just  two  days  after  her  father  left 
this  life,  she  followed,  not  knowing  he 
had  gone  before.  The  last  service  of 
love  which  friends  give  to  the  departed 
was  paid  to  her  in  the  same  rooms  at 
Louisburg  Square  so  recently  left  by  her 
father.  Her  poem,  "In  Memoriam,"  to 
her  mother,  and  a  poem  from  her  father 
to  herself  formed  part  of  the  sacred 
tribute  friends  rendered  to  her  life;  and 
the  body  which  had  been  the  dwelling 
place  for  the  soul  of  Louisa  May  Alcott 
for  fifty-six  years  was  taken  to  Sleepy 
Hollow  Cemetery  in  Concord  and  buried 
with  her  parents  and  her  sister  Elizabeth. 
26 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Louisa  had  a  fine  figure  and  a  well- 
formed  head,  covered  with  an  abundance 
of  brown  hair,  which  she  wore  in  a  simple, 
becoming  style,  rather  than  follow  the 
fashion,  if  not  pleasing  to  her  taste.  An 
easy  dignity  of  bearing,  a  face  beaming 
with  intelligence  and  good  nature,  and 
a  twinkling  of  the  gray  eye  when  some 
thing  pleased  her,  made  her  an  attractive 
woman,  if  not  what  would  be  called 
handsome .  An  hour  spent  with  her  when 
she  was  feeling  well,  in  listening  to  some 
recital  of  her  experience,  either  pathetic 
or  humorous,  was  like  a  refreshing  cordial 
to  the  spirits. 

Knowing  from  her  own  experience  the 
benefit  of  a  little  help  to  a  struggling 
aspirant,  she  delighted,  in  her  quiet  way, 
in  assisting  young  persons  who  were  thus 
striving. 

While  appreciating  with  pleasure  the 
honest  interest  and  respect  which  her 
talent  duly  received  from  those  she  es 
teemed,  she  instinctively  shrank  from 
27 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

the  rude  and  obtrusive  curiosity  of  the 
mere  sight-seers.  She  once  said  to  some 
young  boys,  "Whatever  you  do,  don't 
do  anything  to  get  fame."  The  many 
callers  which  the  School  of  Philosophy 
brought  to  Concord,  and  their  curiosity, 
which  drew  them  to  the  home  of  the 
Alcotts,  were  truly  distasteful  to  her,  and 
when  circumstances  favored,  she  avoided 
them. 

She  advocated  "woman  suffrage,"  and 
when  the  opportunity  to  vote  for  school 
committee  was  given  to  the  women,  she 
was  the  first  to  register  in  Concord,  and 
she  endeavored  to  interest  the  women  of 
the  town  to  do  so.  She  was  much  tried 
by  their  apathy  on  the  subject,  but  was 
herself  one  of  the  twenty  to  vote. 

She  enjoyed  writing  and  felt  she  had  a 
special  gift  for  that,  which  no  one  will 
deny,  but  she  was  also  ever  ready  to 
adapt  herself  to  the  circumstances  of  her 
checkered  life.  Often  in  the  midst  of 
writing  a  book  she  would  need  to  leave 
28 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

it  for  days  or  months,  while  she  attended 
to  the  work  of  the  family,  cheerfully 
doing  the  cooking,  washing  dishes,  clean 
ing  house,  nursing,  or  sweeping,  as  the 
case  required,  for  she  could  turn  her  hand 
to  anything.  At  one  time  she  wished 
for  a  hat  to  match  a  new  dress,  and  failing 
to  find  one  to  her  mind  in  Boston,  she 
bought  a  white  straw  and  painted  it  to 
suit  her  taste ;  and  that  was  after  money 
was  plenty.  The  desire  to  write  one 
book  at  leisure  and  uninterrupted  was 
never  gratified,  for  when  leisure  came,  ill 
health  prevented  her  writing  more  than 
an  hour  or  two  at  a  time,  and  at  last  it 
was  only  half  an  hour. 

Going  West  with  her  father  in  the  fall 
of  1875,  she  began  to  realize  how  famed 
she  was.  At  Oberlin  College  the  young 
ladies  wished  to  hear  her  speak;  but  as 
public  speaking  was  not  in  her  line, 
though  she  was  delightful  in  conversation, 
she  said  she  would  stand  and  turn  round, 
so  all  could  see  her,  and  so  she  did  turn 
29 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

round  three  times.  On  the  return  she 
stopped  in  New  York  City,  intending  to 
remain  there  the  rest  of  the  winter,  but 
a  sudden  return  home  disclosed  a  singular 
fact.  Finding  herself  greatly  lionized  and 
having  worn  her  one  party  dress,  a  black 
silk,  till  "Mrs.  Grundy"  demanded  a 
new  one,  she  thought  best  to  fly  to  the 
home  nest  before  she  was  led  into  ex 
travagance  and  become  vain  through 
flattery. 

Of  the  effect  of  this  popularity  on 
her  character  her  sister  testifies  that  she 
was  not  made  proud  by  it,  but  was  still 
the  same  loving,  self-sacrificing,  devoted 
Louisa  as  of  old.  Thus  her  good  sense 
and  warm  heart  kept  her  soul  pure  and 
made  her  worthy  of  the  love  and  esteem 
which  she  received  in  life  and  which 
makes  her  memory  dear. 


30 


MR.  ALCOTT 

AMOS  BRONSON  ALCOTT  was  born  in 
Woicott,  Connecticut,  November  29, 
1799.  From  his  mother  he  inherited  a 
gentle,  refined  nature.  She  wished  him 
to  have  a  college  education  and  to  study 
for  the  ministry,  but  the  circumstances 
of  the  family  did  not  permit  this.  From 
the  age  of  six  to  ten  he  attended  the 
common  school  nine  months  of  the  year, 
and  the  next  four  years  during  the  winter 
only.  This  was  supplemented  by  read 
ing  all  the  books  he  could  borrow  from 
the  families  for  miles  around.  Among 
these  books  were,  "Hervey's  Medita- 
tions,"  Young's  "Night  Thoughts," 
Burgh's  "Dignity  of  Human  Nature," 
and  Bunyan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress."  The 
latter  he  borrowed  and  read  every  year 
while  at  home.  Books  were  his  great 

Note. — All  quoted  passages  are  excerpts  from  "Memoir 
of  Bronson  Alcott." 

31 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

delight;  he  spent  his  evenings  in  reading, 
and  took  his  book  to  the  field  to  read 
while  the  oxen  rested.  At  the  age  of 
twelve  he  began  keeping  a  diary,  using 
ink  which,  he  made  himself.  In  the 
spring  when  he  was  fifteen,  being  dissatis 
fied  with  farm  life,  he  found  employment 
at  a  clock  factory;  but  as  he  was  not 
pleased  there,  he  went  home  and  for 
three  months  studied  with  the  minister 
of  the  parish. 

After  this,  with  his  cousin,  William 
Alcott,  he  made  two  trips  on  foot, 
peddling  small  wares,  through  Western 
Massachusetts.  Then  he  canvassed  in 
New  York  for  a  book.  A  year  later  he 
and  his  cousin  were  confirmed  in  the 
Episcopal  church  and  he  was  encouraged 
in  studying  for  the  ministry.  The  near 
est  he  came  to  being  a  clergyman  was 
that,  when  meetings  were  held  in  the 
schoolhouse  by  the  Episcopalians,  he  and 
his  cousin  took  turns  in  reading  prayers 
and  sermons. 

32 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

In  later  years,  when  he  gave  up  the 
idea  of  the  ministry  on  account  of  the 
expense,  he  drifted  away  from  the  rites 
and  forms  of  the  church,  never  connected 
himself  with  any  religious  body,  and  was 
not  in  the  habit  of  attending  church 
service.  For  some  years  he  was  classed 
with  the  Unitarians,  but  as  his  ideas 
became  more  and  more  advanced,  the 
Unitarians  were  shy  of  adopting  his 
theories,  lest  they  be  led  into,  they  knew 
not  what. 

When  he  was  nineteen  years  old  a 
desire  to  see  something  of  the  world  and 
also  to  help  in  the  expense  of  the  family, 
of  which  there  were  six  children  younger 
than  himself  (a  brother  was  born  two 
years  later),  led  him  to  start  for  Virginia, 
hoping  to  obtain  a  common  school  to 
teach  near  Norfolk.  He  found  a  school, 
but  could  get  no  boarding-place,  so  he 
bought  some  almanacs  and  small  articles 
of  tinware  and  started  peddling.  When 
he  returned  home  in  the  spring  he  had 
33 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

eighty  dollars  for  his  father,  after  buying 
himself  new  clothes.  Pleased  with  this 
success,  he  continued  peddling  in  com 
pany  with  his  brother  or  cousin,  for 
several  seasons,  changing  his  goods  to 
fancy  articles,  and  now  and  then  he  made 
a  futile  attempt  for  a  school. 

The  culture  of  the  people  he  met  during 
this  time  was  agreeable  to  his  taste.  He 
said:  "I  can  make  peddling  in  Virginia 
as  respectable  as  any  other  business.  I 
take  much  pleasure  in  travelling,  and  in 
conversation  with  the  Virginians, — ob 
serving  their  different  habits,  manners, 
customs,  etc.,  and  I  am  conscious  that 
it  is  of  great  advantage  to  me  in  many 
points  of  view/7  Being  treated  with 
politeness  by  the  people  of  good  breeding, 
he  often  stopped  to  read  or  talk  with  per 
fect  leisure,  and  so  he  acquired  a  polish 
of  manner  unknown  in  his  native  town. 
This  became  so  a  part  of  himself  that 
years  after,  an  Englishman,  in  speaking 
of  him,  said,  "  Why,  your  friend  has  the 
34 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

most  distinguished  manners, — the  man 
ners  of  a  very  great  peer."  This  was 
the  greatest  compliment  an  Englishman 
could  pay.  But  with  the  refined  manners 
of  the  gentry  he  also  took  on  the  easy 
going,  extravagant  habits  of  the  young 
Southerner,  and  on  returning  home  from 
his  second  trip  by  the  way  of  New  York 
he  thus  writes  in  his  diary :  "  I  purchased 
a  costly  suit  of  clothes,  the  best  in  Broad 
way,  and  wear  the  same  to  the  surprise 
of  my  townspeople  and  the  chagrin  of 
my  father  and  cousin  William.  Now 
begin  to  write  my  name  '  Alcott'  instead 
of  'Alcox/  as  my  father  wrote  his,  the 
old  spelling  being  Allcock." 

That  summer  he  spent  in  frivolous 
pursuits,  displaying  his  fine  clothes  and 
paying  attention  to  the  maidens  of  the 
neighborhood.  The  next  winter  he  wrote 
from  Virginia:  "The  costly  coat  scorns 
peddling  and  sinks  money  fast.  Peddling 
will  never  do, — neither  profit  nor  pleasure 
therein."  Of  this  season  of  frivolity  he 
35 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

was  afterward  deeply  ashamed,  and  from 
this  experience,  perhaps,  came  that  strong 
dislike  for  show  and  vanity  which  he  had 
himself  in  after  years,  and  with  which 
he  endeavored  to  imbue  his  children.  At 
one  time  when  he  moved  into  a  house 
where  the  former  occupant  had  left  a 
mirror,  he  sent  word  to  him  to  "take 
away  that  thing  of  vanity." 

At  the  end  of  that  winter  he  borrowed 
eight  dollars  and  a  half  from  his  brother 
and  started  for  home,  walking  much  of 
the  way.  He  entered  New  York  in  his 
stocking  feet,  for  his  shoes  had  become 
unmanageable,  and  he  had  thrown  them 
into  the  dock  at  Amboy,  New  Jersey, 
when  he  took  the  boat  for  New  York. 
In  the  dusk  of  the  evening  he  made  his 
way  to  a  shoe  dealer  and  bought  a  new 
pair  of  shoes,  and  the  tailor  mended  his 
coat  while  he  slept.  He  had  only  a  six 
pence  in  his  pocket  when  he  reached 
home,  but  the  experience  was  helpful. 
He  abandoned  his  spendthrift  habits,  and 
36 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

hoping  to  retrieve  the  past,  persuaded 
his  father  to  help  him  with  an  outfit 
again.  This  time  he  applied  himself  to 
business,  but  was  taken  sick  and  incurred 
debt  instead  of  making  money.  While 
he  was  sick  among  the  Quakers  of  Caro 
lina,  the  religious  instruction  he  received 
from  them  and  their  example  had  an 
important  influence  on  his  opinions  and 
conduct  in  after  years,  and  awakened  a 
desire  for  purity  and  real  worth  and  a 
delight  in  exercises  of  thought  and  de 
votion.  The  result  of  the  five  years' 
peddling  was  to  bring  upon  his  father  a 
debt  amounting  to  about  the  same  that 
would  have  taken  him  through  college. 
The  experience  and  education,  while  very 
different,  may  have  been  in  the  end  quite 
as  helpful. 

When  fully  recovered  from  his  sick 
ness,  Mr.  Alcott  turned  to  school-teaching 
in  Connecticut,  first  in  Bristol,  for  a  short 
time,  then  in  Cheshire.  There  he  intro 
duced  methods  never  known  before  in 
37 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

New  England.  To  gain  the  confidence 
and  affection  of  the  children  was  his  first 
aim;  then  he  thought  compulsory  meas 
ures  would  not  be  needed;  to~obey 
would  be  a  pleasure  rather  than  a  dis 
tasteful  duty.  Constant,  uniform  kind 
ness  he  claimed  was  more  successful  than 
corporal  punishment.  Correction  was 
aimed  at  the  mind  rather  than  the  body, 
as  it  was  the  mind  that  committed  the 
error  and  should  receive  the  correction. 
The  spirit  of  the  kindergarten  was  mani 
fest  in  his  system,  though  the  name  was 
not  then  known. 

At  first  the  earnest  and  superior  manner 
of  the  young  teacher  gave  him  popularity, 
and  he  soon  changed  the  whole  atmos 
phere  of  both  school  and  room.  For  one 
thing  he  began  a  course  of  gymnastics, 
probably  the  first  used  in  a  common 
school  in  the  state.  He  believed  that 
once  the  youth  were  rightly  instructed 
mentally,  morally  and  physically,  they 
would  become  the  reformers  of  humanity 
38 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

at  home.  In  fact  the  redeeming  of  man 
kind  through  the  youth  of  the  country 
was  the  idea  he  started  out  with.  These 
new  methods  were  variously  commented 
upon.  The  Boston  Recorder  of  May  14, 
1827,  quotes  from  a  writer  in  Connecti 
cut:  "  There  is  one  school  of  a  superior 
or  improved  kind,  viz.;  Mr.  A.  B.  Al- 
cott's  school  in  Cheshire, — the  best 
common  school  in  this  State,  perhaps  in 
the  United  States."  But  a  spirit  of 
criticism  and  complaint  was  also  astir; 
some  of  the  tales  from  the  children  were 
listened  to  and  talked  about  by  the 
parents,  instead  of  their  seeking  to  know 
the  truth  of  the  matter  for  themselves. 
This  resulted  in  the  formation  of  another 
school  with  a  lady  teacher,  and  Mr. 
Alcott  concluded  to  retire,  after  having 
spent  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dol 
lars  in  changes  he  desired  during  the 
eighteen  months  he  was  there.  He  then 
went  back  to  Bristol  and  worked  with 
the  same  result  as  at  Cheshire. 
39 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

About  this  time  Dr.  William  Alcott  of 
Wolcott  wrote  to  Rev.  Samuel  J.  May 
of  Brooklyn,  Connecticut,  who  had  in 
terested  himself  in  common  schools, 
describing  the  Cheshire  school  and  its 
teacher's  theory.  Mr.  May  urged  this 
same  teacher  to  visit  him,  which  he  did, 
remaining  a  week.  Mr.  May  says :  "  I  have 
never  but  in  one  instance  been  so  imme 
diately  taken  possession  of  by  any  man  I 
have  ever  met  in  life.  He  seemed  to  be 
like  a  born  sage  and  saint.  He  was  a 
radical  in  all  matters  of  reform;  went  to 
the  root  of  all  theories,  especially  the 
subject  of  education,  mental  and  moral 
culture."  The  result  of  this  visit  and  of 
his  continued  acquaintance  with  the 
family  of  Mays,  for  it  was  there  he  met 
his  future  wife,  was  his  going  to  Boston 
and  opening  an  infant  school,  in  June, 
1828,  which  he  left  the  next  fall  for  one 
of  older  children.  This  one  commenced 
with  six  boys,  others  coming  in  after 
ward,  and  of  them  he  says:  "They  are 
40 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

the  class  of  children  I  have  desired;  ex 
cellent  material  for  the  study  of  Nature  in 
her  simplicity  and  innocence.  I  wish  to 
philosophize  upon  the  pure  workman 
ship  of  the  Creator,  to  aid  in  preserving 
its  symmetry  and  beauty." 

In  February  he  admitted  girls,  and 
soon  removed  to  a  more  convenient  room, 
and  the  success  of  the  school  was  quite 
encouraging.  The  next  January,  1830, 
the  following  entry  was  made  in  his 
diary:  " Heard  from  my  companion  in 
Brooklyn.  Our  marriage  in  the  spring 
seems  to  me,  on  the  whole,  warranted  by 
existing  circumstances.  Were  none  but 
myself  involved  in  the  consequences,  I 
should  not  hesitate  a  moment.  But  the 
happiness  of  another  may  be  involved  by 
the  decision.  But  are  not  the  ills  of  life, 
as  well  as  its  happinesses,  alleviated  by 
united  sympathy  and  affection,  and  can 
separation  avert  their  presence?  Have 
I  not  rather  listened  to  a  deceitful  delu 
sion,  when  I  imagined  I  was  obeying  the 
41 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

dictates  of  reason?  Why  should  we  be 
longer  separated  in  anticipation  of  dis 
tant  and  dubious  evils,  when  the  miseries 
of  absence  are  the  most  certain,  the  most 
increasing,  we  can  feel?  Providence  be 
stows  his  bounties  equally  upon  all,  and 
it  will  be  our  folly  alone  if  we  do  not 
obtain  our  share.  In  hope,  when  founded 
upon  virtue,  there  is  safety;  and  in  virtue 
combined  with  love  there  is  both  safety 
and  happiness,  though  external  ills  assail 
and  worldly  circumstances  oppose." 

Their  marriage  took  place  the  next 
May,  and  the  next  December  they  went 
to  Philadelphia  by  invitation  of  some 
Quakers  who  wished  Mr.  Alcott  to  open 
a  school  there.  The  plans  did  not  mature 
rapidly,  and  not  till  Februray  did  they 
decide  upon  Germantown,  a  few  miles 
from  the  city,  as  the  place  to  locate. 
Hiring  a  house,  the  Rooker  Cottage,  they 
went  to  the  last  dollar  in  furnishing  it 
for  housekeeping  and  thought  of  board 
ing  some  of  the  pupils  if  necessary. 
42 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

March  16th,  1831,  a  little  girl  all  their  own 
was  given  them,  whom  they  named  Anna 
Bronson,  this  being  Mr.  Alcott's  mother's 
maiden  name.  He  immediately  began 
her  education,  and  also  began  to  keep  a 
record  of  her  physical  and  intellectual 
progress,  in  so  minute  a  manner  that  in 
five  months  it  covered  one  hundred 
pages.  Of  this  record  he  says,  "I  have 
attempted  to  discover,  so  far  as  this 
could  be  done  by  external  indication, 
the  successive  steps  of  her  physical, 
mental,  and  moral  advancement/7  Mrs. 
Alcott  in  speaking  of  this  record  says, 
"  It  seems  as  if  she  were  conscious  of  his 
observations,  and  were  desirous  of  fur 
nishing  him  daily  with  an  item  for  his 
record." 

The  school  opened  in  May  with  five 
pupils;  the  next  month  they  numbered 
ten.  His  main  purpose  was  to  form  the 
character,  both  mental  and  moral,  of  the 
pupils.  He  says:  "They  arrive  at  the 
school  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
43 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

have  an  hour's  play  in  the  yard,  and 
enjoy  a  pleasant  social  intercourse  until 
nine  o'clock,  when  their  exercises  in  the 
schoolroom  commence.  The  relation  of 
a  story  by  the  teacher,  involving  an  illus 
tration  of  some  virtue,  and  designed  to 
excite  virtuous  feelings  in  their  bosoms, 
usually  begins  their  exercises.  Both 
teacher  and  children  remark  upon  the 
story,  and  illustrate  the  principles  in 
volved  in  it,  by  events  or  feelings  drawn 
from  their  own  reading  or  experience. 
This  exercise  usually  occupies  an  hour, 
when  the  children  commence  writing  on 
their  slates,  or  in  books,  simple  exercises 
in  spelling,  reading,  definition,  expression, 
drawing,  etc.  All  are  competent  to  write 
in  Roman  letters.  In  a  variety  of  exer 
cises  on  their  slates  and  in  their  books 
they  pass  the  day, — three  hours  in  the 
morning  and  two  hours  in  the  afternoon. 
Nothing  is  presented  to  them  without 
first  making  it  interesting  to  them,  and 
thus  securing  their  voluntary  attention. 
44 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

They  are  made  happy  by  taking  an  inter 
est  in  their  own  progress  and  pursuits.'7 

Their  second  daughter,  Louisa  May, 
was  born  November  29,  1832,  adding  one 
more  pupil  for  her  father  to  observe  and 
to  educate. 

Mr.  Alcott  began  to  feel  that  this  field 
was  not  the  best  place  to  develop  the 
scheme  for  education  which  had  been 
slowly  evolving  in  his  mind  since  he 
began  to  teach,  and  he  inclined  toward 
Boston  as  a  more  fitting  place  for  his 
purposes;  but  he  first  tried  a  school  in 
Philadelphia  for  one  term,  with  the  same 
lack  of  success.  During  his  stay  in  these 
two  places  he  had  enjoyed  the  best  of 
society ;  had  read  extensively  the  writings 
of  Aristotle,  Plato,  Bacon,  Sir  James 
Mackintosh,  Brougham,  Carlyle,  Cogan, 
Bulwer's  novels,  Shelley's  poetry,  and 
various  works  on  education,  morals  and 
religion,  but  nothing  so  absorbed  him  as 
studying  human  nature  in  his  infant 
daughters.  With  others  he  made  an 
45 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

attempt  to  enlist  public  thought  in  ad 
vanced  ideas  of  education  by  lectures 
and  by  publishing  a  journal,  but  the  latter 
expired  at  the  age  of  three  months. 

Returning  to  Boston,  he  opened  a 
school  in  September,  1834,  with  thirty 
pupils  between  three  (his  own  daughter) 
and  twelve  years  of  age,  in  Masonic 
Temple,  which  was  at  that  time  one  of 
the  finest  buildings  in  the  city.  He 
spared  no  pains  or  expense  in  fitting  up 
the  rooms  with  paintings,  busts  and 
books,  in  order  that  a  picture  of  ideal 
beauty  and  perfection  should  address 
itself  to  the  serenity  of  spirit  he  con 
sidered  the  native  attribute  of  unspoiled 
childhood.  Thus  settled,  he  indulged 
in  a  daydream  of  a  comfortable  living 
and  paying  up  the  debts  which  had 
naturally  accumulated,  and  he  felt  that 
the  sensation  of  thrift  was  a  delight. 

He  said:  "I  shall  first  remove  ob 
structions  to  the  growth  of  the  mind; 
these  lie  in  the  appetites,  passions,  de- 
46 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

sires,  and  will.  Intellectual  results  will 
follow  the  discipline  of  the  sentiments; 
for  in  these  lie  the  guiding  energies  of  the 
whole  being.  He  who  reaches  the  will 
and  subdues  the  desires  brings  the  child 
under  his  control,  and  has  commenced 
the  work  of  human  culture  on  a  basis 
that  will  sustain  and  continue.  The 
heart  is  the  seat  of  action, — material, 
organic,  intellectual,  moral — influence 
this,  and  the  whole  being  feels  the  touch. 
To  'keep  this  with  all  diligence '  is  the 
purpose  of  education,  'for  out  of  it  are 
the  issues  of  life.' ' 

Teaching  in  this  high  mood,  Mr.  Alcott 
found  favor  with  those  who  were  of  like 
faith.  Mrs.  Alcott's  genial  spirit  and  the 
interest  of  her  brother,  S.  J.  May,  added 
to  the  influence,  and  the  school  went  on 
for  the  year  "from  grace  to  glory."  But 
the  difficulties  of  keeping  up  to  the  high 
mark  became  evident. 

Mr.  Alcott  did  not  find  much  help  from 
books  in  his  work.  He  said:  "I  have 
47 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

been  thrown  mostly  upon  my  own  re 
sources,  and  haT^e  created,  from  circum 
stances  and  the  ideal  of  my  own  mind, 
the  material  for  intellectual  and  spiritual 
nurture." 

Miss  Elizabeth  Peabody  assisted  him 
and  kept  a  record  of  the  school  from  her 
standpoint,  which  was  published  in  1835, 
and  of  which  it  was  said,  that  it  was 
full  of  interesting  Socratic  and  Platonic 
matter.  Mr.  Alcott  said  of  it:  "Its  ac 
ceptance  is  problematical.  It  embodies 
some  of  my  mind  and  practice,  and  pre 
sents  a  glimpse  of  my  purpose."  William 
Russell  of  Philadelphia  said  of  it:  "We 
make  use  of  it  at  home  as  a  sort  of 
juvenile  family  Bible.  I  am  truly  glad 
that  such  a  work  has  come  out.  I  do 
not  know  how  much  good  it  may  do, 
but  it  is  the  most  eloquent  testimony 
that  I  have  heard."  "The  Annals  of 
Education"  spoke  thus  of  it:  "We  must 
say  that  while  we  rejoice  to  see  a  '  Record 
of  a  School'  from  any  quarter,  while  we 
48 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

wish  to  see  many,  and  hope  to  see  some 
called  forth  to  meet  the  errors  of  this 
one, — we  regard  it  as  a  mingled  mass  of 
truth  and  error,  of  useful  and  useless  and 
injudicious  principles  and  methods.  It 
will  be  interesting  to  every  thinking 
teacher,  but  dangerous  to  the  unthinking. 
We  esteem  the  author  highly,  and  hope 
reflection  and  experience  will  lead  him 
to  correct  his  views." 

Mr.  Alcott  expressed  his  satisfaction 
in  the  progress  of  the  school  thus:  "At 
my  school  the  spiritual  fire  begins  to 
warm  some  of  the  drowsy,  cold  natures 
into  life  and  movement;  but  I  have  yet 
much  to  do.  I  have  succeeded  in  inter 
esting  all,  have  reached  the  understand 
ings  of  all,  and  I  am  feeling  my  way  to 
their  hearts.  I  am  vivifying  the  imagi 
nation;  the  affections  will  come  along 
with  this.  *  *  *  Here  are  young  beings 
who  have  lived  ten  or  twelve  years,  and 
have  not  yet  learned  the  first  conditions 
of  spiritual  progress, — whose  views  of 
49 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

obedience   and   application   are   adverse 
to  improvement." 

Miss  Peabody  in  describing  the  school 
says  that  about  twenty  children  came 
the  first  day,  all  under  ten  years  of  age, 
except  two  or  three  girls.  They  occupied 
chairs,  sitting  in  an  arc  around  Mr.  Alcott, 
who  began  by  asking  each  one  his  idea  of 
coming  to  school,  and  received  varied 
answers,  one  saying  "  to  learn,"  another 
"  to  behave  well,"  etc.,  but  all  agreed  that 
they  came  to  learn,  to  feel,  think  and  act 
rightly.  Then  school  discipline  was  con 
sidered,  with  the  conclusion  that  they 
would  prefer  that  Mr.  Alcott  should  cor 
rect  them  rather  than  leave  them  in  their 
faults.  During  the  talk  many  anecdotes 
were  related  as  illustration,  and  three 
hours  were  thus  spent  with  reading.  Mr. 
Alcott  was  very  strict,  though  mild,  re 
quiring  the  closest  attention  of  each  one 
to  what  he  was  trying  to  teach.  One  of 
his  methods  of  punishment  was  to  take 
part  of  the  correction  himself,  thus  prov- 
50 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

ing  that  the  innocent  must  suffer  with  the 
guilty.  The  Bible  was  read  constantly 
in  school,  Mr.  Alcott  giving  his  own 
peculiar  views  of  the  subjects. 

A  boy  ten  years  old  wrote  thus  in  1836: 
"This  morning  we  began  by  singing  Old 
Hundred,  Mrs.  Alcott  playing  on  the 
piano,  and  leading  us  with  her  voice, 
which  I  think  is  a  very  fine  one.  We 
sang  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and 
then  Mr.  Alcott  explained  to  us  the  words 
we  had  just  been  singing,  which  I  think 
were  very 'interesting  and  characteristic. 
The  reading  was  very  interesting.  It 
was  about  the  visitation  of  God  to  Moses, 
from  a  thunder  cloud,  on  the  top  of  Mt. 
Sinai,  and  when  he  delivered  to  him  the 
Commandments,  which  now  appear  to 
me  much  closer  and  much  more  strict 
than  before.  Mr.  Alcott  asked  all  those 
who  had  never  disobeyed  one  of  the  Com 
mandments  in  their  whole  life  to  hold  up 
their  hands, — not  one  held  up  their 
hands." 

51 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

With  the  opening  of  the  school,  which 
drew  crowds  of  visitors  to  its  beautiful 
room,  and  through  the  recommendation 
of  Dr.  Channing,  whom  he  had  met  in 
Philadelphia,  and  of  other  influential 
people,  Mr.  Alcott  became  for  a  while  a 
" Boston  favorite77  with  all  that  that  im 
plies.  Besides  his  weekday  conversa 
tions  on  Christ  and  the  Gospels,  he  occa 
sionally  held  Sunday  readings  in  his 
schoolroom,  and  from  the  interest  at  first 
shown  his  ambition  pictured  "  the  germ 
of  a  church  that  should  bring  not  only 
the  young  but  parents  and  others  to  hear 
the  simple  words  of  the  Gospel,  and  find 
something  in  them  suited  to  their  spiritual 
growth  and  joy."  He  says:  "I  am  to 
teach, — and  I  am  to  teach  that  which  is 
of  universal  import — the  common  nature 
that  we  inherit.  *  *  *  A  church,  when 
it  shall  come,  will  give  me  full  scope." 

Mr.  R.  W.  Emerson  once,  after  a  talk 
with  Mr.  Alcott,  wrote  in  his  journal: 
"Friend  Alcott  declares  that  a  teacher 
52 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

is  one  who  can  assist  the  child  in  obeying 
his  own  mind,  and  who  can  remove  all 
unfavorable  circumstances.  He  believes 
that  from  a  circle  of  twenty  well-selected 
children  he  could  draw  in  their  conversa 
tion  everything  that  is  in  Plato,  and  much 
better  in  form  than  it  is  in  Plato." 

In  1837  Mr.  Alcott  published  the  first 
volume  of  "Conversations  with  Children 
on  the  Gospels/ '  which  Miss  Peabody  had 
reported.  In  the  preface  of  the  book  she 
said  they  "were  recorded,  because  it  was 
thought  that  they  might  prove  a  model 
for  parents  and  teachers  who  were  de 
sirous  of  giving  a  spiritual  culture  to  the 
young;  and  also,  because  Mr.  Alcott  felt 
that  what  the  children  should  freely  say 
would  prove  to  be  a  new  order  of  Chris 
tian  Evidences,  by  showing  the  affinity 
of  their  natures  with  that  of  Jesus."  Mr. 
Alcott  said  of  it,  "  It  is  the  Record  of  an 
attempt  to  unfold  the  Idea  of  Spirit  from 
the  Consciousness  of  Childhood;  and  to 
trace  its  Intellectual  and  Corporal  Rela- 
53 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

tions,  its  Temptations  and  Discipline,  its 
Struggles,  and  Conquests,  while  in  the 
Flesh.  To  this  end  the  character  of 
Jesus  has  been  presented  to  the  consider 
ation  of  children,  as  the  brightest  Symbol 
of  Spirit,  and  they  have  been  encouraged 
to  express  their  views  regarding  it." 

The  book  and  author  alike  were  severe 
ly  criticized  by  the  newspapers.  A  few 
passages  concerning  birth  were  found 
especially  objectionable,  although  one 
cultured  lady  said  of  them :  "  I  could  not 
have  imagined  that  those  conversations 
about  Birth  would  not  be  received  with 
reverence  and  thanks,  by  all  who  might 
have  the  privilege  of  either  reading  or 
hearing  them.  I  felt  my  own  mind  ele 
vated  by  them."  The  Daily  Advertiser 
complained  that  "on  the  most  important 
and  difficult  questions  this  teacher,  while 
he  endeavors  to  extract  from  his  pupils 
every  thought  which  may  come  upper 
most  in  their  minds,  takes  care  studiously 
to  conceal  his  own  opinions."  "  In  some 
54 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

cases  he  gives  opinions,  and  sometimes 
opinions  of  very  questionable  soundness. " 
He  supposes  "that  a  new  era  in  philos 
ophy  is  dawning  upon  us  in  the  discovery 
that  childhood  is  a  type  of  the  divinity. " 
The  Courier,  a  paper  which  afterward 
stood  bravely  by  the  unpopular  cause, 
compared  Mr.  Alcott  with  Kneeland,  who 
had  been  indicted  for  blasphemy,  and 
suggested  that  he  also  be  brought  before 
the  honorable  judge  of  the  municipal 
court.  Mr.  Emerson  came  to  his  defense 
and  wrote  to  the  Courier  a  censure  for 
what  it  published.  He  said,  "In  that 
work  [Conversations  on  the  Gospels]  a 
passage  or  two  occurs  which,  separated 
from  the  connection  in  the  book,  might 
give  great  uneasiness  to  many  readers. 
Precisely  these  passages  one  of  the  daily 
papers  selected,  and  dragging  them  out 
of  the  protection  of  the  philosophy  and 
religion  which  hedged  them  round,  held 
them  up  to  censure  in  its  columns.  These 
unlucky  scriptures,  innocent  enough  to 
55 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

the  reader  of  the  whole  book,  were  copied 
with  horror  into  another  paper  and  kin 
dled  the  anger  of  your  correspondent. 
*  *  *  In  behalf  of  this  book,  I  have  but 
one  plea  to  make, — this,  namely,  let  it  be 
read." 

The  excitement  about  the  book  ran 
high;  at  one  time  a  mob  threatened  to 
assault  him  at  one  of  his  evening  con 
versations,  but  this  plan  was  not  carried 
out,  and  quiet  soon  followed.  The  sale 
of  the  book,  which  at  first  had  been  rapid, 
ceased ;  but  the  next  month  he  published 
the  second  volume.  Some  years  after 
ward  an  attorney  in  Boston  sold  the  re 
maining  eopies  by  the  pound  for  waste 
paper. 

The  school,  which  had  gradually  de 
creased  from  year  to  year,  now  numbered 
only  ten.  The  next  year  he  received  a 
colored  girl  into  the  school,  and  the 
parents  of  his  other  pupils,  except  one, 
refused  to  have  their  children  attend  if 
she  remained.  Mr.  Alcott  would  not 
56 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

turn  her  away,  and  the  school  came  to  an 
end  after  five  years  of  existence,  there 
being  only  his  three  daughters  and  one 
paying  pupil  besides  the  colored  girl. 
Thus  his  idea  of  laying  the  foundation  of 
a  broad  and  generous  spiritual  education 
for  the  American  people  failed,  affected 
by  the  outcry  of  the  people  that  he  was 
corrupting  the  youth  of  the  modern 
Athens  by  his  conversations. 

During  these  years  Mr.  Alcott  had  in 
curred  debt,  and  with  all  these  trials  his 
health  was  impaired.  Now,  after  con 
sidering  various  plans,  he  hired  a  cottage 
with  an  acre  of  land  in  Concord,  Massa 
chusetts,  where  he  hoped  to  support  hit 
family  by  tilling  the  land  and  working 
for  the  farmers  around  him,  thus  uniting 
labor  with  culture,  as  he  "held  conversa 
tions  as  well  as  the  plow."  The  following 
July,  1840,  their  fourth  daughter,  Abby 
May,  was  born. 

For  a  time  he  worked  bravely,  but  his 
heart  was  ever  turning  toward  his  mission 
57 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

in  the  world — "  to  inspire  thought. "  His 
longings  were  toward  England,  where  he 
had  made  some  friends  through  his  books. 
Through  the  kindness  and  liberality  of 
his  friend  Emerson  he  went  to  England 
in  May,  1842,  leaving  his  wife  and  children 
in  the  care  of  a  brother  during  his  absence 
of  six  months.  In  writing  to  his  brother 
he  said :  "  Come  then, — if  your  wishes 
and  affairs  second  my  request.  I  find 
little  for  my  hands  to  do  here;  every 
avenue  to  honest  employment  seems 
closed  to  me;  no  one  wants  me,  since  I 
am  not  a  profitable  hireling,  and  rather  a 
questionable  person  to  employ.  I  have 
passed  days  in  the  woods  wielding  the 
axe,  but  it  amounts  to  little,  while  my 
thoughts  and  interests  are  far  away,  and 
the  strokes  fall  heavy;  the  best  of  it  is 
the  echo  resounding  from  the  blows." 

Arrived  in  London,  he  met  with  a  warm 
reception  from  his  friends,  and  was  soon 
settled  at  an  institution  managed  accord 
ing  to  his  own  ideas  and  named  for  him, 
58 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

"Alcott  House/'  But  he  failed  to  find 
encouragement  for  his  labors  there.  A 
few  enthusiastic  persons  were  willing  to 
join  him  in  a  social  reform  in  New  Eng 
land,  and  three  men  accompanied  him 
home  in  October  for  that  purpose,  and 
were  added  to  his  family  for  the  winter, 
thus  increasing  Mrs.  Alcott's  care  and 
work. 

The  next  spring  they  started  their  ideal 
community  life  in  Still  River,  Harvard, 
purchasing  a  farm  remote  from  dwellings, 
and  away  from  any  road,  and  naming  the 
place  "Fruitlands,"  from  the  imaginary 
fruit  which  was  to  be  raised  there  under 
their  cultivation. 

In  "The  Dial,"  a  magazine  of  that 
time,  they  thus  announced  their  plan: 
"Ordinary  secular  farming  is  not  our 
objects.  Fruit,  grain,  pulse,  herbs,  flax 
and  other  vegetable  products,  receiving 
assiduous  attention,  will  afford  ample 
manual  occupation,  and  chaste  supplies 
for  the  bodily  needs.  It  is  intended  to 
59 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

adorn  the  pastures  with  orchards,  and  to 
supersede  ultimately  the  labor  of  the 
plough  and  cattle,  by  the  spade  and 
pruning  knife.  Consecrated  to  human 
freedom,  the  land  awaits  the  sober  cul 
ture  of  devout  men.  *  *  *  The  inner 
nature  of  every  member  of  the  Family 
is  at  no  time  neglected.  A  constant 
leaning  on  the  living  spirit  within  the 
soul  should  consecrate  every  talent  to 
holy  uses,  cherishing  the  widest  charities. 
The  choice  library  is  accessible  to  all  who 
are  desirous  of  perusing  these  records  of 
piety  and  wisdom.  Our  plan  contem 
plates  all  such  discipline,  cultures,  and 
habits  as  evidently  conduce  to  the  purify 
ing  of  the  inmates. " 

As  they  were  to  have  no  intercourse 
with  worldly  persons,  the  cares  and  in 
jurious  effects  of  a  life  of  gain  would  be 
avoided.  The  following  account  of  their 
life  has  been  given:  "No  animal  sub 
stance — neither  flesh,  fish,  butter,  cheese, 
eggs  nor  milk — was  allowed  to  be  used  at 
60 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Fruitlands.  They  were  all  denounced  as 
pollution,  and  as  tending  to  corrupt  the 
body  and  through  that  the  soul.  Tea 
and  coffee,  molasses  and  rice,  were  also 
proscribed, — the  last  two  as  foreign  lux 
uries, — and  only  water  was  used  as  a 
beverage.  Mr.  Alcott  would  not  allow 
the  land  to  be  manured,  which  he  re 
garded  as  a  base  and  corrupting  and  un 
just  mode  of  forcing  nature.  He  made 
also  a  distinction  between  vegetables 
which  aspired  or  grew  into  the  air,  as 
wheat,  apples,  and  other  fruits,  and  the 
base  products  which  grew  downwards 
into  the  earth,  such  as  potatoes,  beets, 
radishes  and  the  like.  These  latter  he 
would  not  allow  to  be  used.  The  bread 
of  the  community  he  himself  made  of 
unbolted  flour,  and  sought  to  render  it 
palatable  by  forming  loaves  into  the 
shape  of  animals  and  other  pleasant 
images.  He  was  very  strict,  indeed 
rather  despotic,  in  his  rule  of  the  com 
munity,  and  some  of  the  members  have 
61 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

told  me  that  they  were  nearly  starved  to 
death  there;  nay,  absolutely  would  have 
perished  with  hunger  if  they  had  not 
furtively  gone  among  the  surrounding 
farmers  and  begged  for  food." 

The  planting  was  late,  the  only  crop 
raised  was  barley  and  that  was  injured 
in  harvesting,  and  yet  Mrs.  Alcott  was 
expected  to  prepare  three  meals  a  day 
for  the  family,  which  sometimes  num 
bered  twelve,  besides  doing  the  ordinary 
house  work.  No  wonder  she  could  tell 
the  tragic  side  of  Fruitlands!  A  cold 
winter  brought  Mr.  Alcott  to  realize  the 
necessity  of  common  clothing,  for  linen 
garments  were  not  warm  enough,  cotton 
clothes  had  been  given  up  because  cotton 
was  produced  by  slave  labor,  and  wool 
must  not  be  used,  as  it  was  robbing  the 
sheep  of  their  right.  The  question,  how 
were  they  to  be  shod  when  the  shoes  they 
then  were  wearing  were  gone,  presented 
itself,  "  for  depriving  the  cow  of  her  skin 
was  a  crime  not  to  be  tolerated."  Even 
62 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

the  canker-worms  on  the  apple  trees  were 
not  to  be  destroyed,  as  they  had  a  right 
to  the  apples,  as  well  as  man. 

After  a  visit  to  the  community  Emer 
son  wrote,  "Alcott  and  Lane  are  always 
feeling  of  their  shoulders  to  find  if  their 
wings  are  sprouting." 

Six  months  of  community  life  led  to 
its  breaking  up.  By  midwinter  all  had 
left  but  Mr.  Alcott  and  his  family,  and 
dire  poverty  stared  them  in  the  face. 
"Then,"  said  Mr.  Alcott  in  telling  about 
it  years  after  with  a  pathos  in  his  voice, 
"we  put  our  four  little  women  on  an  ox 
sled  and  made  our  way  to  a  neighbor's." 
Broken-hearted,  he  retired  to  his  chamber, 
refused  food,  and  was  on  the  point  of 
dying  from  grief  and  abstinence,  when 
his  wife,  the  noble  heroine  that  she  was, 
prevailed  on  him  to  continue  longer  in 
this  ungrateful  world. 

The  next  spring  found  the  family 
settled  in  East  Quarter,  Concord;  and 
now  for  the  first  time  they  had  a  home 
63 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

of  their  own,  bought  with  money  left  to 
the  girls  by  Mrs.  Alcott's  father,  helped 
out  by  a  gift  from  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson, 
the  never-failing  friend  of  the  family. 
High  hopes  and  ideal  dreams  had  in  a 
few  months  vanished  like  a  fleeting  soap- 
bubble,  leaving  only  a  sad  remembrance 
and  perhaps  some  practical  experience. 

In  this  dilemma  Mr.  Alcott  applied  for 
a  primary  school  to  teach,  but  was  re 
fused.  He  says  in  his  diary:  "Are  there, 
then,  no  avenues  open  to  the  sympathies 
of  my  townspeople?  O  God!  wilt  thou 
permit  me  to  be  useful  to  my  fellowmen? 
Suffer  me  to  use  my  gifts  for  my  neigh 
bors'  children,  if  not  for  themselves,  and 
thus  bless  the  coming,  if  not  the  present 
generation.  How  long,  0  Lord!  how 
long  wilt  thou  try  me,  by  the  exclusion 
from  the  active  duties  of  Church  and 
State,  and  more  than  these,  from  the 
discharge  of  my  duties  to  my  neighbors 
and  to  my  neighbors7  children?  To  what 
ostracism  does  the  frank  declaration  of 
64 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

his  opinion  sometimes  drive  a  candid  and 
thoughtful  man!  Yet  far  better  this 
than  to  tamper  with  principles  and  their 
God.  Even  the  little  primary  school  was 
denied  me, — but  my  own  children  are 
still  within  reach  of  my  influences;  for 
which  and  bread  for  their  mouths,  and 
raiment  and  shelter  for  their  bodies, 
thou  hast  put  it  into  the  heart  of  some 
to  spare  me  from  begging  these  neces 
saries.  Blessed  be  poverty,  if  it  make 
me  rich  in  gratitude  and  thankfulness 
and  a  temper  that  rails  at  none!  But 
forgive  me  for  intimating  so  much  in 
spoken  words." 

Failing  to  obtain  the  school,  Mr.  Alcott 
turned  his  attention  to  improving  his 
place,  and  to  reading  and  meditation  in 
preparation  for  giving  conversations. 
Terraces  were  formed  on  the  hill  back 
of  the  house,  walks  laid  out,  trees  planted, 
a  rustic  arbor  built  and  a  bath  house 
constructed  from  the  most  gnarled  and 
crooked  sticks  that  could  be  found  in  the 
65 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

woods,  and  finished  with  a  thatched  roof. 
With  Henry  D.  Thoreau  he  built  for 
Mr.  Emerson  a  summer  house  in  rustic 
style  dedicated  to  the  nine  Muses.  Of 
this  Thoreau  said:  "As  for  the  building, 
I  feel  a  little  oppressed  when  I  come 
near  it."  (He  passed  it  on  the  way  from 
his  hermit  cabin  in  Walden  woods  to  the 
post  office.)  "It  has  no  great  disposi 
tion  to  be  beautiful;  it  is  certainly  a 
wonderful  structure,  on  the  whole,  and 
the  fame  of  the  architect  will  endure  as 
long  as  it  shall  stand." 

Mr.  Sanborn  said:  "It  stood  a  pic 
turesque  temple,  and  then  a  beautiful 
ruin,  for  some  fifteen  years."  The 
thatched  roof  seemed  not  to  have  been 
adapted  to  the  rigors  of  New  England 
winters,  for  two  years  later,  we  find  this 
entry  in  Mr.  Alcott's  diary:  "This  morn 
ing  repair  a  little  thatching  and  interior 
of  Emerson 's  summer-house,  standing 
gracefully  on  the  lawn,  and  embowered 
now  by  evergreens  set  out  by  Thoreau 
66 


The  boys  cheered  the  flag  and  the  maker. 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

and  myself.  The  front  gable  is  seen 
from  the  road,  and  attracts  the  notice 
of  passers-by,  as  it  did  in  that  autumn 
while  we  were  building  it, — they  wonder 
ing  and  prattling  about  what  it  could 
be  for." 

The  ferment,  as  Louisa  herself  would 
have  called  it,  occasioned  in  East  Quarter 
by  the  Alcotts  moving  there  soon  sub 
sided,  as  in  all  yeast  of  good  rising  quali 
ties  it  should.  With  his  neighbors  Mr. 
Alcott  had  not  much  to  do,  although  he 
was  genial  and  pleasant  when  circum 
stances  brought  them  together,  being  too 
much  of  a  gentleman  to  be  otherwise. 
To  one  of  them,  a  man  of  sterling  worth 
and  good  sense  and  a  good  reader  withal, 
he  said  one  day :  "  There  are  three  grades 
in  man's  life,  the  animal,  the  intellectual, 
and  the  spiritual.  I  have  been  where 
you  are,  and  in  time  you  may  be  where 
I  am."  The  remark  meant  no  offence 
and  gave  none,  the  neighbor  retaining 
his  own  opinion  on  the  subject.  The 
67 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

children  shared  in  his  geniality,  as  he 
enjoyed  their  innocent  sports.  During 
the  Civil  War  a  simple-minded  woman  of 
the  neighborhood,  with  more  patriotism 
than  good  judgment,  made  a  flag  and 
put  hearts  on  it  in  place  of  stars,  "  because 
they  looked  just  as  well  and  were  easier 
to  make/'  she  said.  Then  the  "Home 
Guards/7  a  company  composed  of  the 
young  boys  of  the  neighborhood  (D.  S. 
Mason,  E.  W.  and  J.  C.  Bull,  E.  H. 
Gowing  and  Henry  Wheeler),  escorted 
Mr.  Alcott  to  her  house,  the  flag  was 
raised,  and  he  made  a  speech.  The  boys 
cheered  the  flag  and  the  maker,  and  then 
three  times  three  were  given  for  Mr. 
Alcott,  and  the  young  patriots  felt  they 
were  good  citizens  of  "Uncle  Sam.'7 

Mr.  Alcott  was  tall  and  slender,  of 
impressive  presence.  With  his  gray  hair 
falling  over  his  coat  collar  he  reminded 
one  of  a  Patriarch.  A  clear,  pleasing, 
blue  eye  lighted  up  his  features,  in  which 
a  consciousness  of  merit  was  quietly, 
68 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

though  none  the  less  firmly,  expressed. 

For  companions  he  had  Emerson,  living 
between  his  own  house  and  the  village; 
Thoreau,  in  his  cabin  at  Walden  pond, 
as  it  was  then  called ,  now  the  renowned 
Lake  Walden;  Hawthorne  at  the  Old 
Manse,  and  Ellery  Channing  in  his  home 
in  the  village.  George  William  Curtis 
spent  a  while  with  the  Concord  farmers 
Barrett  and  Hosmer  in  1844-5;  and  as 
visitors  at  times  came  Margaret  Fuller 
and  James  Freeman  Clarke.  With  such 
a  company  of  thinkers  Alcott  was  well 
satisfied.  He  could  live  in  complete 
serenity  with  his  own  high  thoughts, 
and  continue — as  he  had  once  written  to 
his  mother  in  answer  to  the  query,  what 
was  he  doing? — "Still  at  my  old  trade, 
hoping,  which  has  thus  far  given  food, 
shelter,  raiment,  and  a  few  warm  friends, 
who  cherish  me  and  mine  in  this  time 
of  need." 

After  three  years  of  this  precarious  life 
they  sold  the  place  to  Nathaniel  Haw- 
69 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

thorne  and  moved  to  Boston,  where  Mrs. 
Alcott  was  employed  as  city  missionary 
and,  with  the  daughters,  was  the  main 
support  of  the  family.  Mr.  Alcott  gave 
conversations  when  he  found  a  circle  to 
listen  to  him.  This  was  his  only  means 
of  earning  money,  yet  he  knew  not  how 
to  make  a  correct  price  for  them.  So 
unskilled  was  he  in  money  matters  that 
one  season  he  put  the  price  of  the  single 
tickets  so  low  that  it  was  cheaper  to  buy 
them  singly  than  by  the  course,  and  he 
gave  generously  to  those  who  wished  to 
hear,  seeking  for  listeners,  rather  than 
such  as  were  agreeable  to  the  company. 

It  is  related  that  at  one  time,  when  by 
a  series  of  questions  he  was  likely  to  be 
"driven  to  the  wall,"  instead  of  giving 
a  simple  answer,  he  began  talking  most 
delightfully,  soaring  higher  and  higher, 
as  if  he  had  "  taken  the  wings  of  the 
morning,  and"  says  the  reporter,  "he 
brought  us  all  the  glories  of  heaven.  I 
believe  none  of  us  could  tell  what  he 
70 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

said,  but  we  listened  with  rapture. " 
Perhaps  this  was  the  occasion  when  he 
forgot  to  get  something  for  dinner,  which 
his  wife  had  sent  for  by  him,  and  his 
excuse  was,  "he  had  been  up  in  the 
clouds."  Of  these  conversations  a  Bos- 
tonian  said,  "It  was  like  going  to  heaven 
in  a  swing." 

After  a  while  he  formed  a  club  number 
ing  more  than  a  hundred.  James  Russell 
Lowell,  who  was  one  of  the  members, 
said  of  it:  "The  Club  is  a  singular  ag 
glomeration.  All  the  persons  whom  folks 
think  crazy  and  who  return  the  compli 
ment,  belong  to  it.  It  is  as  if  all  the 
eccentric  particles  which  had  refused 
to  revolve  in  the  regular  routine  of  the 
world's  orbit  had  come  together  to  make 
a  planet  of  their  own."  This  Club  soon 
died  a  natural  death  for  want  of  money. 
Had  Mr.  Alcott  been  a  millionaire,  many 
of  his  visionary  schemes  would  have  de 
veloped  with  an  appearance  at  least  of 
success,  greatly  to  his  joy  and  pride. 
71 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Conversations  proved  no  more  successful 
in  a  financial  view  than  teaching  had 
been,  and  a  change  must  be  made. 

Two  years  were  spent  in  Walpole, 
New  Hampshire  (1855-57),  where  Mrs. 
Alcott  had  family  friends  who  gave  them 
the  use  of  a  house,  and  then  Concord 
became  their  home  for  the  third  time. 
With  money  left  the  girls  by  a  relative, 
an  estate  was  purchased  next  the  one 
they  formerly  owned.  The  buildings 
were  considered  nearly  worthless,  but 
gave  Mr.  Alcott  a  chance  to  exercise  his 
love  for  remodelling,  and  in  time,  after 
many  changes,  a  pleasant,  tasteful  home 
was  the  result,  with  the  comforts  of  real 
home  life.  A  grand  old  elm  stood  in  the 
front  yard,  and  apple  trees  surrounded 
the  house,  which  gave  it  the  name  of 
"  Orchard  House."  Soon  after  his  return 
to  Concord,  he  was  appointed  superin 
tendent  of  the  public  schools,  the  first 
person  to  hold  that  office  in  the  town; 
in  fact,  he  was  quite  instrumental  in 
72 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

creating  the  office.  He  made  trips  in 
the  West,  lecturing  and  holding  conver 
sations,  during  the  winter  months,  by 
which  at  first  he  only  met  his  own  ex 
penses,  but  after  Louisa's  popularity 
came,  he  was  able  to  take  money  to  his 
family. 

The  success  of  Louisa's  "  Little 
Women,"  published  in  1868,  gave  her 
father  courage  to  publish  his  "  Tablets," 
which  was  mostly  made  up  of  essays  that 
had  been  printed  in  the  Boston  Common 
wealth.  That  was  followed  by  "  Concord 
Days"  and  a  reprint  of  the  "Record  of 
Mr.  Alcott's  School." 

In  the  summer  of  1879,  the  school  of 
Philosophy  was  opened,  holding  its  first 
session  with  thirty  pupils  in  Mr.  Alcott's 
study.  This  was  the  realization  of  a 
long-dreamed  ideal,  and  the  crowning 
glory  of  his  life.  As  far  back  as  1840, 
Mr.  Emerson  wrote  to  Margaret  Fuller 
thus:  "Alcott  and  I  projected  the  other 
day  a  whole  University  out  of  our 
73 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

straws."  Their  plan  was  that  a  few  kin 
dred  spirits  should  in  some  country  town, 
"hold  a  semester  for  the  instruction  of 
young  men."  Each  would  choose  his 
own  subject  and  give  lectures  or  conver 
sations  thereon  each  week.  "We  may 
on  certain  evenings  combine  our  total 
force  for  conversations;  and  on  Sunday 
we  may  meet  for  worship,  and  make  the 
Sabbath  beautiful  to  ourselves.  The 
terms  shall  be  left  to  the  settlement  of 
the  scholar  himself.  He  shall  under 
stand  that  the  teacher  will  accept  a  fee, 
and  he  shall  proportionate  it  to  the  sense 
of  benefit  received  and  his  means." 

This  impracticable  idea  of  fees  was 
not  carried  out  when  the  school  became 
a  reality,  but  the  price  for  attendance 
was  fixed.  People  from  all  classes  from 
far  and  near  were  drawn  to  the  school,  if 
only  for  one  session.  Many  came  for 
instruction,  and  many  to  see  the  old  his 
toric  town  and  take  in  the  school  as  a 
side  issue;  others  came  to  criticise,  and 
74 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

many  hoping  to  see  the  noted   Louisa. 

Mr.  Alcott  thoroughly  enjoyed  the 
renown  which  he  received  as  Dean,  and 
also  the  attention  given  to  his  gifted 
daughter.  Writing  to  a  friend  he  said: 
"  Yes,  the  school  is  a  delight,  and  a  real 
ized  dream  of  happy  hours  in  days  of 
sunshine.  Life  has  been  a  surprise  to 
me  during  the  latter  years,  and  I  allow 
myself  to  anticipate  yet  happier  sur 
prises  in  the  future  still  to  be  mine." 

That  many  of  the  lectures  were  in 
structive  to  an  intelligent  audience  no 
one  would  deny;  that  some  dealt  with 
the  unknowable  and  unthinkable  was 
also  true.  Visitors  were  fond  of  reporting 
according  to  the  impression  made  on 
their  own  individual  selves. 

For  four  years  Mr.  Alcott  participated 
in  the  school  sessions  and  lived  in  the 
zenith  of  his  glory.  During  the  fall  of 
1882  he  engaged  in  writing  two  sonnets 
on  Immortality,  but  was  stricken  with 
apoplexy,  October  24,  from  which  he 
75 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

never  fully  recovered.  His  speech  was 
never  again  clear;  but  after  a  time  he 
was  able  to  drive  out,  see  his  friends  and 
now  and  then  make  a  call,  and  he  visited 
the  school  a  few  times. 

He  made  his  home  with  his  eldest 
daughter,  Mrs.  Pratt,  going  with  her 
family  from  town  to  city  according  to 
the  season.  The  writer,  calling  one  day 
during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  found 
him  seated  by  a  window  in  his  comfort 
able  chair;  beside  and  within  easy  reach 
was  a  revolving  book-case.  She  asked 
what  books  he  read  most,  and  he  pointed 
to  those  from  his  own  pen,  of  which 
there  were  eight  or  ten,  and  looking  up, 
smiled.  He  gradually  declined  and 
passed  away,  March  4,  1888,  at  Louis- 
burg  Square,  Boston. 

Through  life,  Mr.  Alcott  abstained 
from  meat  and  confined  himself  to  simple 
diet,  though  the  rest  of  the  family  gradu 
ally  adopted  the  use  of  common  but  not 
rich  food.  One  morning  during  the  latter 
76 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

part  of  his  life  a  guest  at  breakfast  with 
them  remarked,  "So  you  do  not  eat 
meat?"  He  replied,  "No,  it  is  a  relic 
of  the  savage";  then  said  the  guest,  "I 
must  be  much  of  a  savage  for  I  depend 
on  meat."  His  courtesy  would  not  allow 
that,  and  he  said,  "not  necessarily  so, 
but  it  belongs  to  the  savage." 

To  one  looking  over  Mr.  Alcott's  ex 
perience  the  fact  becomes  apparent  that 
many  of  his  peculiar  ideas  and  of  the 
methods  which  he  endeavored  to  intro 
duce  in  his  schools  and  which  caused  his 
failure  then,  have  since  come  into  general 
use.  With  all  his  fanatical  and  imprac 
ticable  theories,  which  often  induced 
ridicule  even  among  his  friends,  he  was 
pure  in  heart  and  character,  strong  in 
friendship,  and  generous  to  a  fault,  and 
his  biographer,  F.  B.  Sanborn,  says, 
"When  he  died  he  left  fewer  enemies 
than  any  man  of  equal  age  can  have 
provoked  or  encountered  in  so  long  a 


career." 


77 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Though  Mr.  Alcott  was  always  fine  in 
conversation,  he  did  not  write  well  until 
he  had  passed  threescore  years  and  had 
overcome  his  great  self-consciousness. 
Mr.  Emerson  said  of  him,  "  When  he  sits 
down  to  write  all  his  genius  leaves  him; 
he  gives  you  the  shell  and  throws  away 
the  kernel  of  his  thought."  Lowell  gives 
a  similar  idea  in  his  Fable  for  Critics. 

At  different  times  Emerson  expressed 
himself  in  regard  to  Mr.  Alcott  thus,  "  A 
wise  man,  simply  superior  to  display, 
and  drops  the  best  things  as  quietly  as 
the  least."  Again  after  three  days  spent 
with  him:  "I  could  see  plainly  that  I 
conversed  with  the  most  extraordinary 
man  and  the  highest  genius  of  the  time. 
*  *  *  Wonderful  is  his  vision.  *  *  * 
Last  night  in  the  conversation,  Alcott 
appeared  to  great  advantage,  and  I  saw 
again,  as  often  before,  his  singular  su 
periority.  As  pure  intellect  I  have  never 
seen  his  equal.  *  *  *  Alcott  is  a  ray  of 
the  oldest  light.  They  say  the  light  of 
78 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

some  stars  that  parted  from  the  orb  at 
the  deluge  of  Noah  has  only  now  reached 
our  earth." 


79 


MRS.  ALCOTT 

MRS.  ALCOTT,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Abigail  May,  was  born  in  Boston,  October 
8,  1800,  the  youngest  of  twelve  children. 
Her  father  was  Colonel  Joseph  May,  her 
mother,  Dorothy  Sewell;  thus  she  in 
herited  from  the  best  of  New  England 
blood.  She  says  of  herself:  "My  school 
ing  was  much  interrupted  by  ill  health, 
but  I  danced  well  and  at  the  dancing 
school  remember  having  for  partners 
some  boys  who  afterward  became  eminent 
divines.  I  did  not  love  study  but  books 
were  attractive.77  When  nineteen,  she 
studied  with  a  private  teacher,  French, 
Latin  and  botany,  read  history  exten 
sively  and  made  notes  of  such  books  as 
Hume,  Gibbon  and  Hallam's  Middle  Ages. 

She  first  met  Mr.  Alcott  at  her 
brother's,  Rev.  Samuel  J.  May,  when 

NOTE. — All  quoted  passages  are  excerpts  from  "Memoir 
of  Bronson  Alcott." 

80 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

he  went  to  confer  with  Mr.  May  in  regard 
to  schools  and  education,  and  though 
going  a  stranger,  extended  his  visit 
through  a  week.  How  much  the  sister's 
presence  had  to  do  with  the  prolonged 
stay  may  not  be  told,  but  evidently  it 
was  a  case  of  love  at  first  sight  on  the 
part  of  both.  She  said:  "His  views  of 
education  were  very  attractive.  I  was 
charmed  by  his  modesty,  his  earnest 
desire  to  promote  better  advantages  for 
the  young/' 

In  after  years  she  used  to  say  he  looked 
to  her  as  she  had  always  fancied  Jesus 
did,  and  for  some  time  she  did  not  under 
stand  whether  her  feeling  toward  him 
was  lovo  v>  worship,  but  after  a  year's 
absence  -tc-it  with  a  brother  in  the 
West,  by  which  her  father  hoped  she 
might  outgrow  her  interest  in  Mr.  Alcott, 
she  decided  it  was  true  love.  In  a  letter 
to  him,  after  reading  some  pages  of  his 
diary,  she  thus  expresses  herself:  "Your 
journal  has  been  most  interesting  and 
81 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

valuable  to  me.  You  have  revealed  the 
man  I  have  wished  to  know,  and  the 
being  I  thought  alone  I  could  love. 
*  *  *  When  I  speak  of  Love,  I  do  not 
mean  that  flippant  little  god  to  whom 
votaries  of  fashion  address  their  prayers, 
whose  wings  they  sometimes  borrow  and 
flutter  through  the  bowers  of  ideal  roses 
arid  lilies;  nor  those  more  careless  pur 
suers  of  pleasure  who  '  kneel  at  every 
shrine  and  lay  their  heart  on  none/ 
No, — I  mean  that  clear  though  deep 
current  of  affection  which,  stealing  un 
observed  into  all  the  recesses  of  the  heart, 
issues  thence  only  in  the  pure  healthy 
rills  of  kindness,  tenderness,  good  will, 
devotion.  This  is  what  I  feel  for  the 
only  being  whom  I  ever  loved  as  com 
panionable,  or  with  whom  I  could  asso 
ciate  in  the  heavenly  tie  of  matrimony." 
It  was  this  true  love,  kindled  at  first 
sight  and  deepened  and  strengthened 
through  all  their  married  life  of  nearly 
fifty  years,  united  with  her  naturally 
82 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

cheerful,    hopeful    disposition,    and    her 
firm  faith,  which  never  wavered,  in  Mr. 
Alcott's  real  worth  and  in  a  better  time 
coming    when    people    would    come    to 
understand   and   appreciate  him,  which 
enabled  her  to  bear  without  complaint 
his  successive  failures  and  the  consequent 
straitened     condition     of     the     family. 
Their  marriage  was  solemnized  May  23, 
1830,  in  King's  Chapel,  Boston,  where 
her  father  was  warden  for  many  years. 
The   ceremony  was   performed   by   her 
brother,    Rev.    Samuel   J.    May.     From 
this  time  on,  through  many  years,  hope 
ful  anticipation  and  sad  disappointment 
alternated  in  the  lives  of  the  couple  thus 
united.     Only   two   months   after   their 
marriage  she  wrote  her  brother:    "My 
husband  is  the  perfect  personification  of 
modesty  and  moderation.     I  am  not  sure 
that  we  shall  not  blush  into  obscurity 
and  contemplate  into  starvation."   Little 
did  she  then  dream  how  near  the  truth 
was  this  expression. 
83 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Mrs.  Alcott  was  a  person  of  energy 
and  executive  ability  united  with  real 
common  sense,  of  which  her  daughters 
said  in  mature  years  they  ^  would  rather 
have  one  particle  of  mother's  common 
sense  than  all  father's  philosophy,"  and 
she  could  not  fail  to  be  often  sorely  tried 
with  the  easy-going,  impracticable  ways 
of  her  husband.  Yet,  with  her  naturally 
quick  and  impulsive  temperament,  she 
so  schooled  herself  that  impatience  was 
seldom  exhibited.  Of  her  patient  en 
durance  with  his  absent-minded  habits 
one  who  boarded  in  the  family  during 
their  last  living  in  Boston  gives  this 
instance,  the  only  time  he  knew  of  her 
speaking  impatiently  to  Mr.  Alcott.  One 
morning  when  he  went  out  she  commis 
sioned  him  to  procure  a  certain  article 
needed  for  dinner;  on  his  return  at  noon 
she  asked  for  it;  he  replied,  "he  had  for 
gotten  all  about  it,  he  had  been  up  in  the 
clouds. "  In  her  disappointment  she  said 
hastily,  "I  wish  you  had  stayed  there/' 
84 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

and  the  next  instant  she  would  regret 
the  remark. 

The  December  following  their  mar 
riage  their  wandering  life  began  with 
their  going  to  Philadelphia  for  a  few 
months,  then  to  Germantown,  where 
Mr.  Alcott  opened  a  school.  She  thus 
writes  to  her  brother  in  the  spring :  "  This 
is  the  anniversary  of  my  wedding  day, 
and  I  devote  an  hour  to  you  in  living 
over  the  past  and  projecting  the  future. 
It  has  been  an  eventful  year, — a  year  of 
trial,  of  happiness,  of  improvement.  I 
can  wish  no  better  fate  to  any  sister  of 
the  sex  than  has  attended  me  since  my 
entrance  into  the  conjugal  state.  Our 
prospects  are  good.  I  wish  you  could 
see  our  delightful  situation.  You  would 
not  wonder  that  we  went  to  our  last 
dollar  to  establish  ourselves  in  this  little 
paradise.  Imagination  never  pictured 
out  to  me  a  residence  so  perfectly  to  my 
mind.  I  wish  my  friends  could  see  how 
delightfully  I  am  settled.  My  father  has 
85 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

never  married  a  daughter  or  seen  a  son 
more  completely  happy  than  I  am.  I 
have  cares,  and  soon  they  will  be  arduous 
ones;  but  with  the  mild,  constant  and 
affectionate  sympathy  and  aid  of  my 
husband,  with  the  increasing  health  and 
loveliness  of  my  quiet  and  bright  little 
Anna,  with  the  co-operation  and  efficient 
care  of  my  nurse  and  housekeeper,  a 
house  whose  neatness  and  order  would 
cope  with  Federal  Court,  a  garden  lined 
with  raspberries,  currants,  gooseberry 
bushes,  a  large  ground  with  a  beautiful 
serpentine  walk  shaded  with  pines,  firs, 
cedars,  apple,  pear,  peach  and  plum 
trees,  a  long  cedar  hedge  from  the  back 
to  the  front  fence,  with  good  health,  clear 
head,  grateful  heart  and  ready  hand,— 
what  can  I  not  do  when  surrounded  by 
influences  like  these?  What  can  I  leave 
undone  with  so  many  aids?'7 

The  society  here  she  found  attractive 
and  congenial  to  her  taste,  and  she  later 
writes  to  her  brother:    "Our  prospects 
86 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

are  pleasant  and  encouraging;  we  have 
found  many  very  important  friends,  and, 
though  in  German  town,  we  shall  not  be 
cut  off  from  their  generous  and  intelligent 
society.  We  enjoy  the  simple  habits  and 
manners  of  the  people  here  very  much. 
You  would  be  delighted  with  the  cheerful 
and  natural  behavior  of  the  most  wealthy 
and  aristocratic  part  of  society.  The 
Friends  are  the  majority,  and  this,  I 
suppose,  gives  a  dignified,  tranquil  and 
simple  air  to  the  whole. " 

But  this  scene  of  domestic  happiness 
did  not  long  continue.  The  school  was 
not  a  success,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1834 
they  returned  to  Boston  with  their  two 
little  girls,  Anna  and  Louisa,  and  teach 
ing  was  again  tried  with  the  old  lack  of 
success.  When  the  clouds  were  darken 
ing  their  horizon,  this  heroic  woman  thus 
writes:  "You  have  seen  how  roughly 
they  have  handled  my  husband.  He  has 
been  a  quiet  sufferer,  but  not  the  less  a 
sufferer  because  quiet.  He  stands  to  it, 
87 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

through  all,  that  this  is  not  an  ungrate 
ful,  cruel  world.  I  rail;  he  reasons,  and 
consoles  me  as  if  I  were  the  injured  one. 
I  do  not  know  a  more  exemplary  hero 
under  trials  than  this  same  '  visionary.' 
He  has  more  philosophy  than  half  the 
persons  who  are  afraid  he  is  thinking  too 
much.  His  school  is  very  small,  or  will 
be  at  the  commencement  of  another 
quarter.  He  will  begin  with  about  ten 
or  a  dozen  here  for  the  summer  term. 
I  sometimes  think  extreme  poverty 
awaits  us.  With  the  idea  comes  before 
my  mind  a  thousand  enterprises  and 
expedients.  But  oh,  my  girls!  what  ex 
posure  may  they  be  subjected  to !  But  I 
do  not  woo  doubt,  but  I  wed  sorrow,  and 
I  surely  do  not  need  that  alliance  to 
promote  either  my  faith  or  hope.  *  *  * 
I  am  no  angel,  though  I  expect  to  be  one 
of  these  days.  I  never  aspired  to  any  kind 
of  a  pinion  but  a  goose-quill,  and  I  shall 
be  very  apt  to  flop  that  about  when  there 
is  anybody  who  cares  to  see  my  flight/7 
88 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

When  trials  and  persecutions  ran  high 
she  thus  writes:  "It  is  a  low  state  of 
moral  discrimination  which  will  give  the 
man  an  honorable  discharge  who  has 
been  twenty  years  gambling  in  fancy 
stocks,  but  drives  into  the  regions  of 
starvation  an  exalted  spirit,  whose  de 
sires  and  efforts  for  the  twenty  best 
years  of  his  life  have  been  to  elevate  and 
improve  the  moral  and  intellectual  con 
dition  of  mankind.  I  try  not  to  believe 
it;  but  the  cruel  sacrifices  we  are  daily 
called  upon  to  make  compel  me  to  des 
pair  of  better  things  yet  awhile.  Can 
Mr.  Alcott  have  time  to  work  out  his 
problem,  we  may  yet  hide  our  faces  and 
strike  our  breasts  for  shame  at  our  in 
credulity.  I  say  ours  for  I  have  been 
among  the  sceptics,  and  he  still  thinks 
me  almost  impotent  in  faith.  But  his 
patient  endurance  often  staggers  me,  and 
the  undaunted  manner  with  which  he 
assumes  his  burden  and  cares,  giving  up, 
with  cheerful  submission,  those  things 
89 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

which  I  know  are  dear  to  his  heart  and 
lovely  to  his  eye,  for  the  rigors  of  toil 
and  privation — fill  me  with  admiration. 
There  is  no  sighing  nor  complaining,  but 
silent  bowing  to  the  dispensation  of  in 
justice  and  ignorance, — where  he  had 
reasonably  expected  intelligent  co-opera 
tion,  or  loving  patience.  Let  us,  my 
dear  brother,  sustain  him.  This  is  my 
resolution.  Depend  upon  it,  a  reality 
is  here,  which  does  not  show  itself  all  on 
the  surface.  There  is  a  depth  from 
which  pure  and  living  water  wells  up  at 
times,  to  refresh  thirsty  souls, — supplied 
from  the  source  of  all  life." 

Probably  the  experience  at  Fruitlands 
was  the  hardest  strain  on  Mrs.  Alcott, 
both  physically  and  mentally,  and  must 
have  been  a  great  test  of  her  faith  in  her 
husband.  With  four  children,  the  oldest 
twelve  years,  and  others,  making  a  family 
sometimes  numbering  more  than  a 
dozen,  the  care  and  work  falling  mostly 
upon  her,  the  necessity  of  preparing  three 
90 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

meals  a  day  principally  from  barley, 
and  the  effort  to  change  the  method  of 
cooking  that  one  article,  so  as  to  form  an 
appetizing  dish,  must  have  told  on  her 
strength.  She  once  said  that  during  the 
stay  there  the  only  opportunity  given  her 
for  a  rest  was,  when  suffering  with  a  sick 
headache,  brought  on  from  overwork, 
she  was  obliged  to  keep  her  bed  for  a  day. 
Yet  when  the  experiment  came  to  its 
sad  end,  she  was  the  one  to  encourage 
her  husband  to  try  again. 

The  years  of  the  Alcotts'  first  living 
in  the  East  Quarter  were  a  season  of  great 
trial  to  Mrs.  Alcott,  as  in  fact  was  all  her 
married  life,  till  Louisa's  writing  brought 
in  money  for  the  family.  They  owned 
their  house,  but  it  would  not  feed  or 
clothe  six  persons.  With  his  failure  at 
Fruitlands  Mr.  Alcott  had  given  up  some 
of  his  peculiar  views  of  diet  and  dress, 
but  he  was  not  a  success  at  tilling  the 
ground.  Perhaps  his  recent  experience 
and  disappointment  may  have  tended 
91 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

to  a  morbid  idea  of  farming,  for  he  said 
to  a  neighbor  one  day,  "Working  in  the 
earth  soils  one's  soul.77  The  girls  were 
too  young  at  that  time  to  teach.  Their 
manner  of  living  was  inexpensive.  Mrs. 
Alcott  with  her  deft  fingers  fitted  over 
clothing  given  by  friends  for  the  girls, 
and  by  her  cheerful,  brave  spirit  made 
the  home  pleasant;  no  one  seeing  her 
for  a  short  time  would  have  imagined 
the  wolf  was  threatening  at  the  door. 
At  one  time  a  simple-minded  girl  was 
boarded  there  to  help  out  the  income. 
When  the  family  went  to  Boston  to  live 
in  1848,  Mrs.  Alcott  was  at  first  employed 
there  as  city  missionary,  then  sometimes 
had  boarders,  and  at  one  time  kept  an 
intelligence  office.  Mr.  Alcott  gave  con 
versations.  The  quiet  gentle  Elizabeth 
(Beth  of  "  Little  Women ")  became  the 
housekeeper,  while  Anna  and  Louisa 
taught,  sewed,  became  companions  to 
friends  or  invalids,  wrote  and  did  what 
ever  came  to  hand  in  their  line  of  talent, 
92 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Anna  always  doing  her  part  to  help  along. 
At  one  time  Louisa  filled  the  place  of 
second  girl  in  a  family.  As  it  was  honest 
labor,  she  was  glad  to  do  it  till  something 
more  congenial  offered.  During  this  life 
in  Boston  Mr.  Alcott  began  his  lecturing 
trips  in  the  West.  The  return  from  the 
first  one,  with  almost  an  empty  pocket- 
book,  is  most  pathetically  described  in 
Louisa's  "Life,  Letters  and  Journal/7 
and  the  noble,  self-denying  spirit  of  Mrs. 
Alcott  was  exhibited  when,  though  sorely 
disappointed,  she  tenderly  commended 
his  effort  and  hoped  for  better  results  in 
the  future.  It  was  not  till  Louisa  became 
noted  through  "Little  Women "  that  her 
father's  lecture  trips  brought  much 
money;  then  at  one  time  he  returned 
with  two  hundred  dollars.  As  the  result 
of  one  of  his  later  trips  he  handed  his 
wife  a  hundred-dollar  bill;  she  repressed 
her  pleasure  and  satisfaction;  then 
another  was  given  her,  and  so  on  till  five 
hundred  dollars  was  laid  in  her  hand. 
93 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

His  last  trip  in  1880-81  realized  him  one 
thousand  dollars,  and  he  enjoyed  the 
notoriety  his  daughter's  fame  gave  him. 
A  happy  and  thankful  woman  was 
Mrs.  Alcott  when  for  the  second  time 
they  moved  to  the  East  Quarter,  Concord, 
into  a  house  all  their  own,  and  from  this 
time  she  enjoyed  all  the  comforts  that 
love  and  a  considerable  sum  of  money 
could  give,  the  latter  increasing  as  the 
years  went  on.  This  was  just  after  the 
death  of  Elizabeth,  the  quiet,  gentle  girl 
whose  loving  care  and  service  made  their 
home  life  so  beautiful.  While  living  in 
Walpole,  just  before  their  return  to 
Concord,  Mrs.  Alcott  went  to  a  neigh 
bor's  where  the  children  had  the  scarlet 
fever,  to  see  that  they  had  proper  care. 
Through  her  Elizabeth  took  the  fever 
and  never  fully  recovered  from  its  effect. 
A  little  affair  of  the  heart  about  that 
time,  which  did  not  meet  the  approval 
of  her  parents,  had  the  effect  of  causing 
a  gradual  decline,  and  she  passed  away 
94 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

from  her  earthly  home  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three  years.  The  mother's  heart 
was  sorely  bereaved,  but  her  hopeful 
spirit  turned  bravely  toward  those  left, 
with  thankfulness  trusting  for  their 
future  usefulness  and  worth. 

The  Civil  War  came  on,  and  while 
deprecating  war,  she  thoroughly  sympa 
thized  with  and  believed  in  the  liberation 
of  the  slaves,  and  was  ready  to  do  all  she 
could  for  them,  even  to  letting  Louisa  go 
as  nurse.  I  was  calling  there  one  day 
when  a  covering  for  a  quilt  was  needed 
for  the  soldiers  and  she  went  into  the 
attic  and  brought  down  a  dress  of  the 
dear  departed  Lizzie's,  saying:  "The 
girls  think  Lizzie's  clothes  too  sacred  to 
be  touched,  but  this  had  better  be  in 
use  for  the  soldiers  than  lying  in  the 
attic.  Come  again  if  you  need  anything 
else."  All  through  her  life  the  deserving 
poor  received  help  from  her  if  possible. 

During  the  years  after  the  close  of  the 
war  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  sit  by  her 
95 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

as  she  plied  her  ever  busy  needle,  sitting 
in  her  low  rocker  beside  a  window  of 
the  sitting  room  with  her  basket  of  work 
on  the  deep-cushioned  seat,  and  to  listen 
to  her  recital  of  "what  the  girls  were 
doing/7  the  one  with  her  pen,  the  other 
with  her  brush.  The  natural  motherly 
pride  and  satisfaction  she  enjoyed  was 
a  delight  to  witness  and  sympathize  with, 
and  has  been  a  pleasant  remembrance 
these  many  years.  She  told  once  how 
Louisa,  by  questioning,  would  get  her  to 
tell  some  of  her  experiences  in  the  early 
days  in  Boston;  then  with  her  merry 
laugh  she  would  add,  "The  next  thing  I 
would  know,  she  had  woven  the  whole 
into  a  story,  such  as  you  find  in  '  The  Old 
Fashioned  Girl'  and  others  of  her  books." 
Once  she  explained  her  husband's  re 
ligious  belief,  and  in  what  way  he  differed 
from  Mr.  Emerson.  And  again  she  told 
of  one  evening  when  company  was  there 
and  some  one  proposed  taking  the  lights 
out  of  the  room  and  having  each  one  tell 
96 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

a  ghost  story  to  see  which  could  do  the 
best;  after  several  had  related  their  tale, 
Louisa's  turn  came,  but  before  she  was 
done  someone  asked  to  have  the  lights 
brought  back,  as  the  scene  was  becoming 
too  gruesome  for  the  dark. 

Often  have  I  recalled  the  story  of  the 
load  of  wood  which  Mrs.  Alcott  told  us 
during  a  drive  one  day.  One  cold  Satur 
day  morning  in  early  winter,  when  they 
lived  in  the  west  part  of  the  town,  a  boy 
from  a  poor  neighbor  came  to  borrow 
some  wood ;  their  own  supply  was  nearly 
gone,  but  Mr.  Alcott  with  true  generosity 
if  not  justice  to  his  own  family,  not  only 
gave  him  a  good  part  of  it,  but  wheeled 
it  to  his  home.  Mrs.  Alcott  would  gladly 
share  their  meagre  supply  with  a  needy 
i  eighbor,  but  felt  that  their  own  children, 
the  youngest  of  whom  was  a  baby,  should 
i.ot  suffer,  and  importuned  him  to  go  to 
the  village,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  away, 
and  order  more,  but  his  comfortable 
room  with  his  books  attracted  him  and 
97 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

he  said  they  would  trust  to  Providence 
that  wood  would  come  or  the  weather 
moderate.  Wagon  loads  of  wood  did 
often  pass  the  house  on  the  way  to  the 
village.  Leaving  him  to  his  comfort  she 
went  about  her  work,  but  with  anxious 
thoughts  and  wondering  what  would  turn 
up.  As  the  hours  passed  the  clouds 
threatened  a  snowstorm.  Along  in  the 
afternoon,  going  into  the  west  room  to 
see  that  the  windows  were  all  secure, 
she  spied  a  load  of  wood  surely  enough 
coming  down  the  street,  but  concluded 
to  say  nothing  to  her  husband,  wishing 
to  see  how  matters  would  turn  out.  In 
front  of  the  house  the  driver  stopped  and 
called  at  the  door  to  see  if  they  would 
not  take  his  load  of  wood;  there  was  a 
storm  coming  on  and  he  wanted  to  get 
home;  if  he  could  leave  it  they  might 
pay  when  convenient.  Then  Mr.  Alcott 
with  his  usual  calmness,  a  trait  he  rather 
prided  himself  upon  possessing,  turned 
to  his  wife,  saying,  "  Did  I  not  tell  you, 
98 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

my  dear,   that  Providence  would   pro 
vide?" 

Mrs.  Alcott,  with  her  large  generous 
heart  which  took  in  all  who  needed  help, 
or  sympathy,  her  motherly  ways  and 
practical  kindly  advice  full  of  useful 
wisdom,  was  greatly  beloved  and  re 
spected  by  all  who  had  the  pleasure  of 
her  friendship.  Watching  jealously  for 
the  good  of  her  own  daughters,  her  in 
terest  went  out  to  others  as  well,  and 
many  a  young  person  welcomed  counsel 
from  her  lips.  In  her  concern  for  the 
welfare  of  the  rising  generation,  she 
endeavored,  as  opportunity  offered,  to 
stimulate  in  the  young  mind  a  love  for 
all  that  was  good  and  helpful  in  life. 
When  the  Teacher's  Institute,  the  first 
held  in  the  state,  was  in  session  in  Con 
cord,  she  sought  an  interview  with  the 
young  ladies  of  that  body  during  a  noon 
intermission,  and  gave  a  practical  talk 
on  themes  of  interest  to  them.  Had  she 
lived  in  the  present  time,  she  probably 
99 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

would  have  lectured  to  mothers  on  home 
and  ethical  topics.  She  was  an  easy, 
interesting  and  instructive  talker  on  all 
the  subjects  of  the  day,  never  stooping 
to  frivolous  talk  or  gossip.  A  physician 
who  attended  her  in  sickness  said  it  was 
wonderful,  the  range  of  knowledge  she 
possessed  and  the  pleasure  he  had  in 
listening  to  her.  None  came  to  my 
father's  house  who  so  engaged  my  interest 
in  their  conversation  as  did  Mrs.  Alcott. 
To  listen  to  her  suggestions,  her  graphic 
descriptions,  her  humorous  recital  of 
some  ludicrous  incident,  her  pathos  in 
serious  matters,  was  a  treat  to  my  youth 
ful  mind.  Her  hearty  but  refined  laugh 
was  like  a  cordial,  and  a  call  from  her 
left  all  present  in  a  cheerful,  happy 
mood. 

Vivid  in  my  mind  is  the  picture  of  a 
bonnet  Mrs.  Alcott  wore  at  one  time, 
which  had  an  unique  history.  A  farmer 
bought  it  in  Boston  as  a  present  for  his 
wife,  at  an  exorbitant  price,  and  of  a 
100 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

very  beautiful  milliner  who  was  after 
wards  accused  of  poisoning  her  husband. 
The  farmer's  wife  wore  it  a  while,  then 
gave  it  to  a  lady  in  Concord  who  used  to 
wear  it  doing  her  chores  round  the  yard. 
Mrs.  Alcott  seeing  her  one  day  with  it 
on  exclaimed:  "What  a  pretty  bonnet! 
how  sensible!  just  what  I  would  like!7' 
(it  was  a  fine  Dunstable  straw  in  what 
was  known  as  the  Quaker  style)  "so 
much  more  comfortable  than  the  present 
fashion."  The  bonnet  was  accordingly 
passed  over  to  her  and  worn  on  her 
errands  to  the  village  and  round  the 
neighborhood.  It  was  easily  put  on, 
requiring  no  look  in  the  mirror  for  its 
right  adjustment,  and  was  also  very 
becoming. 

The  Alcotts,  while  most  zealously 
recommending  vegetable  diet,  daily 
shower  baths  and  outdoor  exercise,  with 
plain  living  and  pure  thinking,  all  of 
which  they  practised,  did  not  make  them 
selves  obnoxious  with  their  individual 
101 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

theories.  Of  the  cold  water  practice  the 
writer  had  a  personal  experience,  the 
recollection  of  which  even  to  this  day 
causes  a  shiver.  As  I  was  rather  a 
weakly  child,  Mrs.  Alcott  thought  the 
cold  shower  bath  would  be  a  benefit  to 
me;  so  one  morning  I  went  there  for  a 
bath,  which  she  administered  herself, 
following  it  by  a  faithful  rubbing;  then 
I  started  for  home  with  the  injunction  to 
"walk  fast/7  but  alas!  I  reached  home 
with  shivering  limbs  and  chattering  teeth. 
Another  time  a  cold  sheet  pack  was 
administered ;  blankets  and  comfortables 
were  of  no  avail  to  bring  the  desired  re 
action;  after  waiting  the  usual  time,  I 
was  dressed  and  sent  to  walk  in  the 
summer  sunshine  to  regain  a  normal 
condition.  Thus  ended  the  heroic  cold 
water  treatment  for  me,  and  without  it 
I  have  outlived  their  entire  family. 

As  age  came  on,  the  hardships  of  her 
earlier  life  began  to  tell  on  Mrs.  Alcott's 
health,    and   in    September,    1866,   just 
102 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

after  Louisa's  return  fvom  her  last  trip 
to  Europe,  she  was  very  sick,  arid  she 
was  never  again  the  same  strong,  ener 
getic  woman  as  before.  The  next  sum 
mer  the  dropsy  which  accompanied  her 
heart  trouble  affected  the  brain,  and 
for  a  little  while  bewilderment  followed. 
Through  the  last  decade  of  her  life,  ill 
turns  were  frequent,  but  her  patience 
failed  not,  and  she  enjoyed  the  continued 
success  of  "the  girls"  as  she  always 
called  Louisa  and  May.  Her  little  grand 
sons  were  a  delight  to  her.  She  was  fre 
quently  able  to  drive  out  and  she  enjoyed 
the  old  scenes.  In  September,  1877, 
came  the  final  illness.  May  was  abroad, 
but  Louisa  nursed  her,  writing  stories 
while  the  mother  slept.  In  October  a 
nurse  was  procured  to  assist  Louisa. 
The  previous  summer  Anna  (Mrs.  Pratt) 
had  bought  a  house  in  the  village  which 
she  and  her  boys  were  occupying;  Mrs. 
Alcott  was  carried  there  November  14, 
her  husband  and  Louisa  going  with  her. 
103 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Anna  thus  writes  of  her  mother's  last 
days:  "About  a  week  before  her  death, 
at  her  earnest  request  we  brought  her 
to  my  house,  hoping  the  change  might 
help  her.  But  it  was  too  late.  As  she 
was  borne  up  stairs  in  her  chair  she  said, 
'The  ascension  has  begun/  and  so  it 
proved,  for  she  slowly  drifted  upward 
until  just  at  night,  November  25,  she 
fell  asleep  peacefully.  So  tranquil  was 
the  departure  we  hardly  realized  she  had 
left  us,  and  sat  long  about  her,  watching 
the  happy  face  and  rejoicing  that  she  was 
at  rest.  All  day  she  had  been  murmuring 
to  herself  of  the  joy  at  going,  saying  again 
and  again, '  Oh,  how  beautiful  it  is  to  die, 
how  happy  I  am/  How  can  we  mourn 
when  she  was  so  glad?  And  yet  so  large 
a  heart  cannot  cease  to  beat  without 
leaving  a  sad  void  behind,  and  no  words 
can  express  how  we  miss  her."  Quiet 
services  were  held  at  the  house  on  the 
28th,  and  she  was  laid  beside  the  beloved 
Lizzie  in  Sleepy  Hollow  Cemetery. 
104 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Mr.  Sanborn  says  of  the  Alcotts,  in 
his  memoir  of  Mr.  Alcott:  "  Scarcely  any 
family  in  America  has  published  more 
volumes,  and  no  portion  of  our  New 
England  literature  is  more  characteristic, 
or  will  furnish  more  material  for  the 
future  critic,  than  these  books.  But  the 
best  writer  in  the  Alcott  family  was  she 
who  never  published  a  book,  and  perhaps 
never  thought  of  writing  one, — Mrs. 
Alcott,  whose  literary  gift  was  greater 
than  that  of  her  famous  daughter,  or 
that  of  her  more  original  husband." 

Mr.  Alcott  in  his  sonnets  pays  this 
tribute  to  his  wife : 

"  Dear  heart !  If  aught  to  human  love  I've  owed 
For  noble  furtherance  of  the  good  and  fair; 
Climbed  I,  by  bold  emprise,  the  dizzying  stair 
To  excellence,  and  was  by  thee  approved, 
In  memory  cherished  and  the  more  beloved; 
If  fortune  smiled,  and  late-won  liberty,— 
'Twas  thy  kind  favor  all,  thy  generous  legacy. 
Nor  didst  thou  spare  thy  large  munificence 
Me  here  to  pleasure  amply  and  maintain, 
But  conjured  from  suspicion  and  mischance, 
105 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Exile,  misapprehension,  cold  disdain, 
For  my  loved  cloud-rapt  dream,  supremacy; 
To  bright  reality  transformed  romance, 
Crowning  with  smiles  the  hard-earned  victory.'1 


106 


ANNA 

PERHAPS  no  babe  was  ever  so  closely 
watched,  with  her  every  motion,  look, 
growth  of  body  and  development  of 
mind  more  minutely  and  carefully  re 
corded  by  a  father,  as  was  Anna  Bronson, 
the  eldest  child  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alcott, 
born  in  Germantown,  Pennsylvania, 
March  16,  1831.  Yet  she  grew  up  quite 
a  child  of  nature,  inheriting  from  each 
parent  their  best  qualities;  from  the 
father  a  gentle  and  hopeful  spirit,  with 
her  mother's  large-heartedness,  affection, 
cheerfulness  and  enduring  love.  With 
her  a  real  friendship  once  formed  was 
never  broken  or  slighted,  unless  the 
object  proved  unworthy;  then  she  relent 
lessly  tore  it  from  her  heart. 

With  her  friends  she  was  open-hearted 
and  affectionate,  her  greeting  to  them 
was  such  as  to  leave  no  doubt  in  their 
107 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

mind  of  her  sincerity  and  devotion. 
From  her  modest  and  retiring  manner, 
no  one  meeting  her  casually  would  ever 
imagine  the  amount  of  sentiment  and 
romance  in  her  nature.  Of  lively  imagi 
nation  and  quick  perception  of  the  lu 
dicrous,  she  found  much  even  in  the 
details  of  everyday  life  to  amuse,  and 
had  a  happy  faculty  of  picturing  it  to 
others.  This  was  a  strong  trait  in  the 
whole  family,  and  gave  them  much 
simple  diversion  among  themselves  at 
their  own  fireside.  It  was  as  good  as  a 
play  to  hear  from  each  the  several  recita 
tions  of  their  experience  of  the  day,  as 
they  gathered  round  the  table  at  night, 
each  vying  with  the  other  to  add  her  part 
to  the  family  entertainment. 

Anna  was  a  natural  actor  and  delighted 
in  tableaux  and  simple  plays,  never  out 
growing  the  pleasure  thus  afforded.  In 
deed  at  one  time  she  hoped  to  make 
acting  her  profession,  and  had  she  done 
so,  no  doubt  another  name  of  the  family 
108 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

would  have  acquired  fame,  but  partial 
deafness  affecting  her  at  that  time,  she 
was  obliged  to  relinquish  the  idea,  much 
to  her  regret  and  the  delight  of  her 
parents,  who  did  not  favor  the  plan. 

A  graceful  and  interesting  writer,  she 
sometimes  indulged  in  composing  short 
stories,  and  the  incident  told  in  "Little 
Women "  of  "Jo"  writing  a  story  and 
reading  it  to  her  mother  and  sisters  as 
if  it  was  in  a  newspaper,  really  belongs 
to  the  modest,  unpretentious  Anna. 
Their  appreciation  of  the  story  was  a 
great  pleasure  to  her,  yet  she  never 
aspired  to  writing  a  book  in  those  days. 
After  her  mother's  death  she  hoped 
sometime  she  might  have  the  leisure 
to  prepare  a  memorial  befitting  that 
noble  woman,  but  the  opportunity  never 
came. 

Had  she  chosen  authorship  instead  of 
marriage  and  motherhood,  she  would 
have  made  a  success  in  that  line.  Ro 
mance  would  have  been  her  forte;  sweet, 
109 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

noble  characters  would  have  developed 
under  her  pen,  while  every  unworthy  act 
would  have  received  condign  punish 
ment.  Her  letters  to  her  friends  were 
delightful;  one  of  her  correspondents 
wrote  on  receiving  a  letter  from  her,  "A 
real  feast  of  kind-heartedness,  love  and 
sympathy." 

When  quite  young  she  began  to  teach, 
but  never  in  a  public  school;  usually  a 
few  pupils  in  the  family  of  some  friend. 
When  they  lived  in  Boston  she  and 
Louisa  had  a  school  of  girls  at  one  time 
in  the  house  where  they  lived.  After 
ward,  through  her  mother's  brother,  who 
was  the  pastor  of  a  church  in  Syracuse, 
New  York,  she  obtained  a  position  in  a 
state  institution  there,  an  asylum  for 
feeble-minded  children.  She  disliked  it, 
but  concluded  to  try  to  be  contented  be 
cause  it  was  duty.  Thus  here  and  there, 
teaching,  sewing,  or  as  companion,  she 
did  her  part  to  the  support  of  the  family, 
sometimes  enduring  untoward  treatment 
110 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

without  complaint  because  money  was 
needed. 

During  a  winter  spent  at  home  when 
Elizabeth  (Beth)  was  not  well  and  was 
confined  to  the  house,  the  girls  took  part 
in  acting  plays  with  a  few  of  the  young 
people  of  the  village;  Elizabeth  enjoyed 
seeing  them  dress,  and  their  description 
of  the  fun;  it  served  to  brighten  her 
shut-in  hours.  When  the  play  required 
lovers  it  somehow  came  about  that  their 
parts  were  given  to  Anna  and  to  John 
Pratt,  the  son  of  one  of  Concord's  honored 
farmers,  who  came  there  from  the  "  Brook 
Farm  community. "  The  young  man 
was  just  home  from  the  West,  which  fact, 
with  his  manly  appearance,  made  him 
attractive  to  a  girl  of  a  romantic  turn  of 
mind  like  Anna,  and  so  quite  naturally, 
from  acting  they  became  lovers  in  truth, 
and  in  early  spring  surprised  their  friends 
by  announcing  their  engagement. 

After  two  years  of  sweet  wooing  they 
were  married  on  the  23rd  day  of  May, 
111 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

1860,  the  anniversary  of  the  marriage 
of  her  father  and  mother;  Mrs.  Alcott's 
brother  performing  the  ceremony  as  he 
had  the  parents'  thirty  years  before. 
It  was  a  quiet  family  wedding  service 
which  united  these  two  young  people  for 
life;  the  concluding  festivities,  after 
some  old  custom,  of  a  dance  by  the  elder 
people  circling  the  bridal  pair  under  the 
old  Revolutionary  elm,  which  gracefully 
bent  its  branches  over  them  within  hand- 
reach  from  the  lawn,  formed  a  pretty  and 
unique  final  to  their  romantic  wooing. 

A  pretty,  simple  cottage  in  Chelsea, 
surrounded  by  apple  trees  which  had  put 
on  their  bridal  costume  of  delicate  pink 
and  white  for  the  occasion  was  the  home 
where  John  Pratt  took  his  dear  Anna. 
Here  the  young  bride,  who  possessed  her 
mother's  domestic  qualities,  devoted  her 
self  to  making  her  home  an  attractive 
place  for  enjoyment  for  her  adored  hus 
band.  Two  boys  came  to  complete  their 
happiness,  but  they  were  not  twins  as 
112 


THE  ALOOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Louisa  represented  in  "  Little  Women/' 
there  being  two  years  between  their 
births.  As  her  deafness  increased,  Mrs. 
Pratt  withdrew  more  and  more  from  the 
outside  world  and  found  her  greatest 
delight  in  doing  for  her  family,  not,  how 
ever,  neglecting  kind  offices  for  others, 
when  opportunity  and  calls  came  to  her. 
As  the  talents  of  her  sisters  became 
developed,  she  was  very  proud  of  them, 
and  justly  so,  and  loved  to  tell  incidents 
of  their  experiences,  ever  placing  herself 
in  the  background.  What  was  said  of 
her  grandmother  May  was  equally  true 
of  her :  "  She  was  reserved  in  her  deport 
ment;  she  loved  the  doing  of  a  good 
action  better  than  the  describing  it. 
She  never  said  great  things,  but  did  ten 
thousand  generous  ones.  Her  heart  was 
all  tenderness/'  Thus  loving  and  loved, 
ten  years  of  happy  wedded  life  passed, 
and  then  the  shadow  of  death  came  and 
the  husband  and  father  was  taken  from 
them. 

113 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

Now  her  life  became  bound  up  in  her 
two  boys,  and  for  their  sakes  she  moved 
to  Concord,  and  with  money  from  the 
life  insurance  of  her  husband,  helped  out 
by  a  sum  from  Louisa,  bought  a  home  in 
the  village,  known  as  the  "Thoreau 
house."  It  had  been  the  home  of  the 
mother  and  sisters  of  Henry  D.  Thoreau, 
and  he  had  died  there.  In  one  of  the 
rooms  hung  a  painting  of  him,  taken 
when  he  was  a  young  man.  When  the 
last  sister  died,  she  requested  that  the 
picture  remain  in  the  house  so  long  as 
it  was  occupied  by  people  who  were  in 
terested  in  her  brother,  and  then  be 
placed  in  the  library  of  the  town.  Mr. 
F.  B.  Sanborn  was  the  first  occupant, 
and  Mrs.  Pratt  followed  him,  and  so  the 
portrait  was  there  for  years,  but  it  now 
hangs  on  the  walls  of  the  library. 

The  winter  after  her  mother's  death, 

which  occurred  at  her  house,  she  wrote 

to  a  friend  thus:    " Father  and  Louisa 

are  with  me  now;  our  plans  are  unsettled 

114 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

for  another  year.  I  think  it  doubtful  if 
they  ever  return  to  the  old  house  (the 
Orchard  House).  It  will  never  be  home 
to  us  without  the  dear  mother.  She  was 
for  so  many  years  the  centre  of  all  our 
hopes  and  plans;  we  hardly  feel  recon 
ciled  to  the  change,  and  life  seems  empty 
and  sad  enough.  And  yet  we  cannot 
wish  her  back,  when  she  so  longed  to  go. 
The  end  so  beautiful,  so  happy,  so  peace 
ful,  all  suffering  past  and  only  present 
the  joyful  thought  of  the  speedy  release, 
the  longed-for  reunion.  I  am  now  the 
house  mother  and  full  of  cares,  every 
one  coming  to  me  for  everything,  but 
it  is  good  to  feel  so  necessary  and  I 
keep  up  good  heart  and  feel  glad  my 
shoulders  are  so  broad  and  strong  for 
the  burden." 

As  her  two  boys,  Fred  and  John,  ar 
rived  at  the  age  to  have  some  occupation, 
they  both  entered  the  publishing  house 
of  Roberts  Brothers,  in  Boston,  the  firm 
who  had  been  not  only  Miss  Alcott's 
115 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

publishers  but  her  kindly  advisers  and 
warm  friends. 

Mr.  Alcott  and  Louisa  continued  the 
rest  of  their  lives  to  make  their  home 
with  Mrs.  Pratt.  The  house  was  large 
and  old-fashioned,  with  front  door  in 
the  middle;  but  soon  Anna  writes :  "We 
are  always  trying  something  new,  for 
perhaps  you  will  remember  '  The  Alcotts ' 
can  never  be  quiet.  So  we  have  been 
improving  a  little  and  putting  a  wing  to 
my  already  big  house.  In  this  we  have 
a  fine  new  study,  with  piazza  and  room 
above  for  Louisa.  This  gives  us  more 
convenience  and  father  a  room  for  his 
library.  How  I  wish  you  would  come 
here  to  live.  What  good  times  we  would 
have  together  reading  and  walking,  etc. 
When  you  come  to  Concord  it  must 
always  be  a  part  of  your  plan  to  make 
Annie's  home  one  of  your  abiding  places. 
I  am  almost  as  romantic  as  when  we 
wrote  sixteen  love  letters  a  day  to  each 
other.  I  find  my  old  friends  so  much 
116 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

more  satisfactory  than  my  new  ones  I 
make  nowadays  that  I  seem  to  cling  to 
them." 

The  opening  of  the  "School  of  Phil 
osophy  "  in  1879  added  much  to  her  cares, 
because  of  the  numerous  visitors  eager 
to  see,  not  only  the  home  of  Louisa,  but 
herself  if  possible.  Her  father  asked 
one  day  why  they  did  not  go  to  the 
School?  Anna  handed  him  a  long  list 
of  names  of  four  hundred  callers  and  he 
said  no  more.  Writing  to  a  friend  at 
one  time,  she  said:  "I  have  just  returned 
from  the  seashore  where  I  have  been 
spending  a  month  with  my  boys,  and 
enjoying  myself  as  only  a  very  tired 
woman  can  enjoy  perfect  rest  and  free 
dom  from  care.  I  went  to  Nonquit 
where  Louisa  has  a  cottage,  a  lovely 
green  paradise  which  offers  everything 
one  can  wish.  Here  I  rested,  and  for 
fun  got  up  theatricals  (as  usual),  cha 
rades,  etc.,  and  grew  quite  young  and 
festive,  and  enjoyed  my  lark  so  much  I 
117  * 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

did  not  want  to  come  home  when  my 
summons  arrived,  but  Louisa  must  have 
her  turn,  and  as  baby  needed  change 
they  wished  to  spend  August  among  the 
sea  breezes.  Thus  we  take  turns  and 
so  keep  our  boys  there  eight  or  ten  weeks. 
So  I  am  alone  in  my  glory  in  the  old 
house,  where  father  lives  with  me.  As 
the  i School'  is  in  session  I  can  hardly 
call  it  quiet,  for  the  study  door  stands 
open  and  all  who  wish  come  in.  As  I  sit 
writing  in  my  room  no  less  than  ten  phi 
losophers,  men  and  women,  have  strolled 
in,  and  father  is  in  his  element.  I  keep 
out  of  the  way  and  as  'Miss  Alcott'  is 
not  at  home  and  few  of  the  wise  ones  are 
aware  of  my  existence  I  keep  out  of  a 
good  deal  of  fuss.  You  see  I  do  not  ap 
preciate  my  advantages  and  shun  the 
ways  of  wisdom.  I  am  like  the  confec 
tioner  who  having  all  the  sweets  he  wishes 
chooses  plain  bread  and  butter  for  supper. 
I  have  had  so  much  of  the  so-called  phi 
losophy  in  my  life  that  I  care  nothing 
118 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

for  it,  but  content  myself  with  what 
seems  to  me  the  true  philosophy  of  every 
day  life.  Louisa's  motto,  'Do  the  duty 
that  is  nearest  thee/  seems  to  me  to  em 
brace  as  much  philosophy  as  most  of  us 
need ;  so  few  of  us  are  able  to  do  the  duty 
uncomplainingly  and  bravely." 

Another  time  she  wrote,  "I  am  well, 
though  at  fifty-two  one  does  not  grow 
younger  and  I  am  getting  to  be  a  very 
stout  gray  old  woman  and  find  I  don't 
spring  up  and  down  stairs  as  I  once  did. 
I  still  love  novels  and  plays,  and  am  about 
sixteen  in  heart,  so  I  have  something 
to  comfort  me  in  my  old  age.  Concord 
is  very  jolly  and  I  enjoy  all  the  fun  with 
my  boys."  Writing  of  Louisa's  desire 
to  go  to  Europe  again  she  said:  "You 
know  in  old  times  she  was  always  longing 
for  something,  always  in  search  of  ad 
venture,  never  contented  with  humdrum 
home  life.  It  is  the  temperament  of  genius 
the  world  over,  this  aspiration  for  some 
thing  beyond  their  reach.  Their  dis- 
119 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

content  and  moody  views  of  life  seem 
inseparable  from  the  gifted  natures.  So 
I  sometimes  thank  heaven  I  am  a  hum 
drum,  and  cannot  be  gloomy  or  down 
hearted  long.  Though  I  have  many  sad 
hours,  something  within  always  bids  me 
hope,  and  I  have  a  happy  faculty  for 
seeing  the  silver  lining  to  every  cloud." 
The  marriage  of  her  eldest  son,  which 
occurred  in  due  time,  gave  Mrs.  Pratt 
great  pleasure,  and  as  one  and  then 
another  grandchild  came,  her  cup  seemed 
full  of  happiness.  And  so  her  bright, 
hopeful  disposition  tided  her  over  the 
seasons  of  trial  and  affliction,  through 
her  father 's  long  sickness  of  paralysis, 
and  when  one  by  one  every  member  of 
her  family  but  her  two  boys  were  called 
away  to  the  land  beyond.  To  the  last 
she  was  brave  and  cheerful,  doing  loving 
acts  when  she  could,  thinking  of  others 
rather  than  self.  In  July,  1893,  a  slight 
ill  turn  occurred,  which  did  not  alarm 
her  friends,  and  suddenly  she  was  not. 
120 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

The  last  member  of  A.  B.  Alcott's  family 
had  passed  from  earth,  each  leaving  an 
individual  record.  In  a  Boston  daily 
paper  was  the  following  obituary  notice: 
"Mrs.  Anna  Bronson  Alcott  Pratt, 
widow  of  John  Pratt  and  eldest  daughter 
of  A.  Bronson  Alcott,  died  at  Concord, 
Massachusetts,  Monday  (July  17th). 
She  was  the  original  of  'Meg/  the  sweet 
eldest  one  of  the  four  'Little  Women7 
who  have  been  like  sisters  to  all  the  young 
girls  of  America  since  they  first  appeared 
in  literature.  And  many  women  who 
used  to  know  'Meg/  'Jo7  and  'Amy7 
almost  as  well  as  their  own  sisters  and 
who  rejoiced  in  'Meg's'  brave  industry 
and  endearing  womanliness  and  happy 
home  life  will  feel  a  pang  as  at  the  loss 
of  a  familiar  flesh  and  blood  friend  of 
school-girl  days,  in  learning  that  'Meg' 
too  has  followed  her  sisters  into  the 
silent  land." 


121 


MAY 

ABBY  MAY  ALCOTT  was  the  favored 
child  of  the  family,  arriving  at  young 
womanhood  after  Louisa  had  acquired 
money  and  could  give  her  advantages  in 
education  and  travel  which  money  alone 
could  procure.  She  was  born  in  Con 
cord,  in  1840,  just  before  her  father's 
unfortunate  Fruitlands'  experience;  and 
during  her  early  childhood  the  family 
passed  through  the  most  severe  season 
of  adversity  in  their  struggling  life;  but 
she  was  too  young  to  realize  the  strait, 
and  all  took  pains  to  shield  the  youngest 
from  trial. 

Owing  to  the  varied  and  trying  de 
mands  on  Mrs.  Alcott,  the  care  of  the 
young  child  fell  in  a  great  measure  to 
the  loving,  motherly  Anna,  and  between 
the  two  a  strong  affection  existed.  Abby, 
for  so  she  was  called  in  her  childhood, 
122 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

was  of  quick  temper  and  exacting  in 
disposition,  but  surny  withal,  when  not 
crossed.  The  scei.e  which  Louisa  de 
scribes  in  "  Little  Women  "  of  the  break 
ing  of  her  shoestring  when  she  was  in  a 
hurry  one  day  was  quite  natural,  and  the 
picture  is  very  vivid  to  the  mind  of  one 
who  knew  her  in  early  youth.  But  love 
was  a  strong  element  in  her  nature,  and 
quick  return  to  sunshine  always  followed 
such  an  outburst.  Her  temperament 
being  much  like  Louisa's,  they  often  dis 
agreed,  and  then  Anna  would  prove  the 
peacemaker.  The  bond  of  affection  with 
all  the  family  did  not  permit  a  variance 
of  any  length  of  time. 

As  a  child  she  could  not  be  called 
pretty,  though  interesting.  The  mouth 
was  not  delicate,  the  nose  decidedly  like 
her  father's  and  prominent;  she  had  his 
eyes  also,  pleasant  deep  blue.  But  the 
years  softened  the  nose,  gave  character 
to  the  mouth  and  with  her  clear  com 
plexion,  loose  flowing  curls  of  delicate 
123 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

brown,  clear,  dancing,  blue  eye,  winsome, 
artless  manner,  graceful  motion,  and 
artistic  dress  she  was  a  very  attractive 
young  lady.  One  mother,  at  least,  com 
plained  that  her  son's  attention  was  taken 
too  much  from  his  college  studies  to  play 
croquet  with  their  pretty  neighbor,  May 
Alcott;  for  as  a  young  lady  she  discarded 
the  plain  old-fashioned  name  of  Abby, 
which  was  her  mother's,  for  the  more 
classic  and  modern  one  of  May. 

Very  early  her  books  gave  evidence 
of  her  love  for  drawing,  and  frequently 
among  the  sketches  was  to  be  found  her 
ideal  of  a  Grecian  nose,  which  she  sorely 
deplored  not  possessing  herself.  As  her 
talent  developed,  all  through  the  "Or 
chard  House"  were  traces  of  her  brush, 
a  panel  here,  birds  or  flowers  elsewhere, 
to  adorn  the  nooks  and  corners  of  the 
rooms,  so  that  the  old  house  which  had 
been  transformed  from  an  old  wreck, 
became  the  fitting  home  to  please  the 
cultivated  taste.  Over  the  mantle  in 
124 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

her  father's  study  she  painted  in  Old 
English  letters  the  epigram  that  Ellery 
Channing  wrote  for  that  place: 

The  hills  are  reared,  the  valleys  scooped,  in  vain, 
If  learning's  altar  vanish  from  the  plain. 

With  Louisa's  first  success,  May  was 
sent  to  the  School  of  Design  at  the  age 
of  nineteen,  and  afterward  had  the  best 
of  instruction  that  Boston  afforded.  A 
friend  gave  her  the  opportunity  of  going 
to  Europe,  and  Louisa  and  another  young 
lady  accompanied  her.  This  was  merely 
a  pleasure  trip,  but  three  years  later 
Louisa  sent  her  there  to  study  for  a  year, 
and  the  time  was  well  improved  by  her, 
with  different  masters.  Copies  which 
she  made  from  the  paintings  of  Turner 
were  highly  prized. 

A  young  lady  in  the  studio  with  her 
was  ambitious  to  have  a  painting  in  the 
exhibition  at  Paris  and  was  working  for 
that  purpose.  May  had  not  thought  of 
such  an  honor  for  herself,  but  one  day 
125 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

as  they  finished  their  simple  lunch  a 
sudden  inspiration  seized  her  to  make  a 
picture  of  the  table  and  what  was  on  it, 
plate,  fruit,  flagon  and  glass.  When 
finished,  she  sent  it  to  the  Salon,  where 
it  was  not  only  accepted  but  hung  on  the 
eye  line,  the  place  of  special  honor,  much 
to  her  surprise  as  well  as  delight.  The 
letter  bearing  the  good  news  home  was 
read  in  the  sick  room  of  the  mother 
where  the  family  were  gathered.  When 
the  first  flush  of  joyful  excitement  was 
passed,  Anna  exclaimed,  "each  one  has 
acquired  fame  but  poor  I,  who  have 
done  nothing."  Her  father  pointing  to 
her  two  boys  said,  "Here  is  what  you 
have  done;  it  is  more  than  all  the  rest." 
The  painting  attracted  much  attention 
and  was  noticed  by  the  London  Journal 
in  flattering  terms.  In  the  joy  of  her 
own  success  May  did  not  fail  in  sympathy 
for  her  friend  whose  picture  was  not 
accepted. 

Returning  to  Concord  after  her  year 
126 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

of  study,  she  endeavored  to  interest  the 
young  people  there  in  the  art  she  so 
dearly  loved,  and  to  this  end  opened  her 
studio  to  them  and  directed  their  instruc 
tion.  French  and  El  well,  who  have 
since  become  distinguished,  were  among 
those  who  availed  themselves  of  her 
generosity  and  interest.  She  shared  the 
family  talent  in  using  the  pen  gracefully, 
but  preferred  the  brush  and  easel  to  the 
goose-quill  and  inkstand. 

At  that  time  California  was  an  attrac 
tive  place  for  travellers,  and  Louisa  gave 
her  the  money  to  go  there,  or  to  Europe 
again;  she  chose  the  latter,  and  in 
September,  1876,  put  the  ocean  between 
herself  and  her  loved  family  for  further 
prosecution  of  her  life  work  in  art. 

Her  mother's  health,  which  had  been 
precarious  for  some  time,  failed,  and  she 
passed  from  earthly  scenes  in  November 
of  the  following  year.  May  felt  the  blow 
keenly,  alone  in  a  foreign  land,  and  hav 
ing  with  the  grief  a  sense  of  self-accusa- 
127 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

tion  that  perhaps  she  ought  to  have 
returned  home,  though  not  summoned. 
For  a  week  she  shut  herself  in  her  room, 
not  going  to  the  table  to  meals.  In  the 
room  opposite  hers  was  a  young  Swiss 
gentleman  of  fine  musical  talent,  who, 
feeling  a  sympathy  for  the  beautiful 
young  American  in  her  sorrow,  used  to 
open  his  door  and  play  sweet  strains  on 
his  violin.  When  her  retirement  ended 
they  became  not  only  well  acquainted 
but  friends,  then  lovers,  and  as  their 
artistic  tastes  were  harmonious,  were 
soon  betrothed.  In  a  short  time  Mr. 
Nieriker,  the  young  man,  was  called 
away  from  London  by  business,  and  not 
wishing  to  be  separated,  they  were 
privately  married,  March  22,  1878. 

Anna  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  thus  writes 
of  them :  "  We  are  of  course  still  absorbed 
in  May  and  the  new  brother,  and  live  in 
anticipation  of  our  weekly  letters  which 
continue  to  bring  such  happy  news. 
The  newly  married  are  now  in  their  own 
128 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

home  just  out  of  Paris,  and  full  of  de 
light  in  everything,  and  each  other,  and 
leading  a  delicious  life.  All  we  hear  con 
firms  our  first  pleasant  impression  of  Mr. 
Nieriker,  and  his  letters  to  us  show  him 
to  be  a  gentleman  of  culture  and  refine 
ment;  also  the  possessor  of  a  warm, 
loving  heart  and  domestic  qualities, 
which  promise  well  for  the  future  happi 
ness  of  his  wife. 

"May  seems  to  have  given  him  her 
whole  heart,  and  to  be  quite  willing  to 
settle  down  into  a  housekeeper  whose 
sole  desire  is  to  make  home  happy.  She 
will,  however,  continue  her  art,  as  Ernest 
is  very  ambitious  for  her,  and  takes  great 
pride  in  his  gifted  wife.  Ernest  Nieriker 
is  a  Swiss,  son  of  a  lawyer  of  good  stand 
ing  in  Baden,  his  grandfather  being  one 
of  the  eminent  physicians  of  the  Baths 
there.  The  family  are  very  accom 
plished,  musical  and  fine  linguists. 
Ernest  is  a  banker.  May  is  perfectly 
happy,  and  perfectly  well,  what  more  can 
129 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

we  ask?"  And  later  she  writes:  "Our 
news  of  May  is  the  happiest  possible, 
she  is  full  of  delight  with  her  home,  hus 
band,  and  the  world  in  general." 

Her  husband  united  with  her  in  an 
invitation  to  "sister  Louisa"  to  spend  a 
year  with  them,  but  she  thought  it  better 
for  them  to  be  by  themselves  for  a  while. 
Her  health,  also,  was  hardly  equal  to  the 
trip  just  then,  but  she  held  it  in  pleasant 
anticipation  for  the  near  future,  never 
to  be  realized.  Prospect  of  motherhood 
was  joyously  anticipated  by  both  families. 
Mr.  Nieriker's  mother  and  sister  joined 
the  young  couple  for  the  time.  Mrs. 
Pratt  (sister  Anna)  thus  writes  in  Jan 
uary,  1880,  of  the  sad  sequel  to  this 
happy  term  of  life : 

"  We  have  felt  somewhat  anxious  about 
May  ever  since  the  birth  of  her  child, 
November  8th.  She  has  not  seemed 
strong  and  her  recovery  was  so  slow, 
still  she  did  gain,  and  was  beginning  to 
sit  up  and  plan  for  the  future.  But  it 
130 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

did  not  last.  She  was  seized  with  an 
attack  of  brain  fever  and  after  a  week  of 
severe  illness  fell  into  a  deep  slumber 
from  which  she  never  fully  awoke. 
Early  in  the  morning  of  December  29th, 
she  folded  her  hands  upon  her  breast  and 
passed  peacefully  away.  The  last  days 
were  happy,  she  lay  dreaming,  her  hand 
moving  as  if  it  held  the  beloved  pencil, 
and  she  murmured  to  herself,  rousing 
once  or  twice  to  recognize  her  husband 
for  a  moment,  or  speak  a  few  words. 

"It  is  hard  to  be  reconciled  to  this 
great  sorrow,  May  was  so  happy,  so  use 
ful,  so  content  to  live,  so  blessed  in  all 
that  makes  life  beautiful.  Why  should 
she  not  stay?  In  truth  God's  ways  are 
full  of  mystery.  We  can  only  submit 
and  wait.  Somewhere  in  the  future  com 
fort  awaits  us.  Her  husband  is  heart 
broken  and  so  desolate.  Through  all 
her  illness  he  has  been  beside  her  day  and 
night.  No  stranger  has  been  allowed 
to  touch  her.  Ernest,  his  mother  and 
131 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

sister,  have  watched  over  her  every 
moment,  and  been  untiring  in  their  de 
votion.  This  is  one  comfort,  and  the 
dear  little  Louisa  who  is  to  be  ours  if  she 
lives  till  spring.  May  gave  her  to  Louisa, 
and  the  husband  promised  to  fulfill  the 
wish  if  she  did  not  recover.  At  her  own 
desire,  expressed  long  ago  in  anticipa 
tion  of  the  possibility  of  the  event,  she 
was  laid  in  a  green  churchyard  just  out 
side  of  the  city,  where  her  husband  can 
go  with  flowers  and  feel  that  she  is  still 
near  him."  On  this  side  the  ocean,  in 
the  family  lot  in  Sleepy  Hollow  Cemetery 
in  Concord,  a  little  headstone  bears  the 
inscription,  "M.  A.  Nieriker." 

In  September  the  little  Swiss  "  Louisa," 
May's  legacy  to  her  sister,  came  to 
America  to  be  loved,  petted  and  watched 
over  by  her  aunts  and  grandfather,  and 
she  proved  to  the  latter  a  source  of  great 
delight  and  comfort  in  his  declining 
years.  Mr.  Nieriker's  sister  accompanied 
the  nurse  who  was  sent  to  bring  her. 
132 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

No  pains  or  expense  was  spared  to  make 
her  young  life  one  of  joy.  Anna  writes: 
"Louisa  is  devoted  to  her,  and  the  tie 
between  them  is  very  sweet.  I  hope  we 
may  keep  her  to  fill  May's  place  in  our 
hearts;  her  father  is  still  in  Brazil  trying 
to  outlive  his  sorrow  in  work,  and  laying 
up  money  for  the  education  of  his  little 
girl.  We  write  regularly  and  love  him 
very  much  for  he  is  worthy  of  our  esteem 
and  affection.  She  is  a  beautiful  child, 
full  of  life  and  talent  like  her  mother, 
and  an  active  brain  which  shows  she  is 
also  a  Nieriker."  A  year  or  two  later 
she  writes,  "  Our  little  Swiss  maid  is  now 
a  big  bouncing  bonny  girl,  making  noise 
enough  for  a  dozen  boys  and  keeping  the 
whole  family  in  commotion.  Louisa's 
life  is  devoted  to  this  child  and  leaves 
her  time  for  nothing  else." 

As  Louisa's  health  failed,  the  care  of 

the  child  naturally  fell  to  her  aunt,  Mrs. 

Pratt.     When  Louisa  passed  away,  the 

little  Lu  Lu  wrote  thus  to  her  father, 

133 


THE  ALCOTTS  AS  I  KNEW  THEM 

"Dear  papa,  Grand-pa  is  dead,  and  now 
Aunt  Louisa  has  gone  and  I  am  very 
lonely,  you  must  come  and  take  your 
little  girl  home."  The  father  answered 
the  pathetic  summons  of  his  little 
daughter,  by  coming  to  see  her  that 
summer,  but  not  having  a  home  of  his 
own  at  that  time,  returned  without  her, 
to  prepare  for  her  coming  at  a  later  date. 
In  June,  1889,  Mrs.  Pratt  went  with  her 
to  Zurich,  Switzerland,  where  the  father 
with  his  sister  had  made  a  home. 

Years  after  the  little  Louisa  married 
an  author  named  Razim  and  became 
a  mother.  They  lived  in  Zurich.  Her 
father  never  married  again. 


134 


SELECTIONS  FROM  LIST  OF 

The  C.  N.  Clark  Publishing  Co. 

WINDING  WATERS.    By  Frances  Parker. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

Author  of  the  two  big  Western  successes :  "  Hope  Hathaway  " 
and  "  Marjie  of  the  Lower  Ranch."  This  is  the  first  work  from 
the  pen  of  Miss  Parker  in  four  years.  You  will  find  in  her  new 
strong  and  compelling  story  of  the  Great  West  many  startling  dis 
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TRACT  NUMBER  3377.    By  George  H.  Higgins  and  Margaret 
Higgins  Haffey. 

Spendidly  Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

Tells  how  Ashton  Walbridge,  a  young  college  man,  enters 
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REAL  LETTERS  OF  A  REAL  GIRL.     By  Betty. 

Richly  bound.    Price,  $1.25. 

The  author  of  this  splendid  book  possesses  that  rarest  of 
gifts,  genuine  and  spontaneous  humor.  She  has,  moreover,  the 
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THE  HEART  OF  SILENCE.    By  Walter  S.  Cramp. 

Richly  bound.    Price,  $1.50. 

The  scene  of  the  opening  part  of  this  story  is  laid  in  Italy  with 
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MY  SOLDIER  LADY.    By  Ella  Hamilton  Durley. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.25. 

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THE  BELL  COW.    By  Bryant  E.  Sherman. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

Decidedly  a  story  of  simple  country  life.  The  trials  and 
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ALICE  BRENTON.    By  Mary  Josephine  Gale. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

The  author  has  drawn  a  vivid  picture  of  Colonial  Newport,  with 
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Mrs.  Gale  describes  the  sufferings  and  privations  of  the  people 
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soldiers,  and  in  the  end  makes  love  triumph  over  all  obstacles. 
The  book  has  ingenuity  in  plot,  and  much  interesting  material. 
—  The  Newt)  Newport,  E.  I. 

THE  DOOR  WHERE  THE  WRONG  LAY.    By  Mary  E.  Greene. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.     Price,  $1.50. 

A  story  that  will  well  repay  the  reading  is  "  The  Door  Where 
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A  KNIGHT  IN  HOMESPUN.    By  John  Charles  Spoth. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

A  homely  little  tale  of  wholesome  sentiment,  bearing  the  title, 
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time  in  the  hall  of  the  home  of  Dr.  Henry  Boosch,  while  it  watched 
the  development  of  the  human  drama  which  went  on  in  the  house 
hold. — New  York  Times. 

UNCLE  SIM.    By  Fred  Perrine  Lake. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

A  story  with  a  charming  rural  setting  is  "  Uncle  Sim."  It 
gives  admirable  portraiture  of  the  types  to  be  found  in  a  country 
village — pleasant,  kindly,  royal-hearted  folk,  whose  aquaintance 
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AT  THE  SIGN  OF  THE  BLUE  ANCHOR.     By  Grace  R.  Osgood. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

This  tale  of  Colonial  Days  in  New  Jersey  takes  one  among 
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THE  TOBACCO    TILLER.    By  Sarah  Bell  Hackloy. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

A  strong  and  compelling  romance  woven  about  an  industry  and 
placed  in  a  section  of  the  country  that  is  attracting  international 
attention  at  the  present  time. 

IN  THE  TWILIGHT  ZONE.    By  Roger  Carey  Craven. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

A  story  of  the  South.  It  is  instinct  with  ambitions,  passions 
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THE  DRAGNET.    By  Elizabeth  B.  Bohan. 

Illustrated.    Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

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CHANEY'S  STRATAGEM.    By  Hannah  Courtenay  Pinnix. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.     Price,  $1.50. 

A  striking  piece  of  fiction.  The  sudden  and  unexpected  turn 
of  Fortune's  Wheel,  by  which  the  heroine  and  the  other  characters 
find  their  level,  makes  mighty  interesting  reading. 

TOMPKINSVILLE  FOLKS.    By  Nettie  Stevens. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.     Price,  $1.50. 

Is  a  careful  study  of  human  nature  in  human  life.  The  pathos 
and  charm  of  its  rural  setting  and  homely  characters  are  drawn 
with  firm  yet  skilful  touch. 

THE  CAREER  OF  JOY.    By  Grace  Eleanore  Towndrow. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.25. 

Genuinely,  tenderly,  and  with  a  pervasive  charm  impossible  to 
describe,  the  author  tells  the  story  of  the  old  love,  which  returns 
to  the  woman's  life  after  the  fetters  of  a  loveless  marriage  enchain 
her.  Which  path  shall  she  choose  ? 

THE  VASSALAGE.    By  Adelaide  Fuller  Bell. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

The  story  is  vivid,  dramatic,  picturesque,  and  the  strong  strange 
psychic  forces  in  the  lives  of  the  principal  characters  add  a  wholly 
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WHERE  MEN  HAVE  WALKED.    By  H.  Henry  Rhodes. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

Wild  and  varied  as  the  ocean  itself  is  this  strong  tale  of  pirate 
deeds  and  hidden  treasures. 

UP  THE  GRADE.    By  David  W.  Edwards. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

A  story  of  tender  filial  devotion,  that  should  be  read  by  every 
young  man  in  the  land.  A  tale  of  a  strong,  brave  man  and  a  true, 
loving  woman. 

THE  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  DESERTED  ISLE.      By  Warren  Wood. 

Illustrated.    Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

A  story  woven  about  the  Burr  and  Blennerhassett  conspiracy. 
Much  has  been  written  concerning  this  famous  episode,  but  in  this 
book  many  hitherto  and  amazing  unknown  incidents  are  revealed. 

A  COWBOY  CAVALIER.    By  Harriet  C.  Morse. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

A  Texas  ranch  is  the  background  of  a  love  story  whose  heroine 
is  an  attractive  Eastern  girl,  and  her  lover  a  brave  cowboy  cavalier, 
giving  pictures  of  rough  and  tragic  customs  that  will  soon  be  only 
memories. — McClurg^s  Monthly  Bulletin. 

THE  JAYHAWKER.    By  John  A.  Martin. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

Mr.  Martin's  little  story  is  well  done  and  is  worth  while.  His 
characters  are  as  real  as  the  scenes  he  depicts,  and  the  incidents 
which  go  to  embelish  his  plot  are  dramatic  and  full  of  excitement. 
— Boston  Herald. 

THE  LAW  OF  THE  RANGE.    By  Wayne  Groves  Barrows. 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.50. 

A  vivid  and  realistic  tale  of  the  factional  wars  waged  by  the 
plainsmen  of  New  Mexico  a  generation  ago. 


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